THE  UNIVERSITY  OF 

' 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

LIBRARY 

# 

THE  WILMER  COLLECTION 

OF  CIVIL  WAR  NOVELS 

PRESENTED  BY 

RICHARD  H.  WILMER,  JR. 

\ 

i 

/^^ 


BY 

"  Mr.  Goss  has  an  extremely  readable  style.  He  tells  his 
story  in  a  straightforward  manner,  without  any  attempt  at 
fine  writing.  His  descriptions  are  often  dramatic,  and  are 
to  be  absolutely  depended  upon  for  historical  accuracy."  — 
Boston   Transcript. 

JED.     A  Bov's  Adventures  in  the  Army 
of  1 86 1 -6^. 

A  story  of  battle  and  prison,  of  peril  and  escape.  Fully 
illustrated.     i2mo.     Cloth,  Si.so. 

RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A  PRiyATE. 

A  story  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  With  over  80  illus- 
trations by  Chapin  and  Shehon.  Royal  8vo.  Cloth,  ;j2.5o. 
Seal  Russia,  #3.50.     Half  Morocco,  $4.50. 

TOM  CLIFTON ;  or.  Western  Boys  with 
Grant  and  Sherman's  Army. 

Fully  illustrated.     i2mo.     Cloth,  ;J  1.50. 

JACK  ALDEN.     A  Story  of  Adventure 
in  the  Virginia  Campaigns,  i86i-6^. 

With  16  spirited  illustrations  by  Frank  T.  Merrill.  i2mo. 
Cloth,  1 1. 50. 

For  sale  by  all  Booksellers- 
Catalogues  sent  free  upon  application. 

T.  Y.  Crowell  &  Co.,  ^^^o\°T^o^^''° 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2010  witii  funding  from 

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http://www.archive.org/details/jackaldenstoryofOOgoss 


"I  saw  one  of  our  men  run  forward  to  the  rebel  color-bearer. 

• — Page  151. 

Frontispiece. 


JACK  ALDEN 


A   STORY  OF  ADVENTURES  IN  THE 
VIRGINIA  CAMPAIGNS 

'61-'65 


WARREN   LEE   GOSS 

AUTHOR  OF   "JED,"  "TOM  CLIFTON,"  "RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A 
PRIVATE,"   ETC. 


NEW  YORK:  46  East  14th  Street 

THOMAS    Y.    CROWELL    &    CO. 

BOSTON;  100  Purchase  Street 


Copyright,  1895, 
By  Thomas  Y.  Crowell  &  Co. 


Typoobaphy  «y  C.  J.  Peteks  &  Son, 
Boston. 


DEDICATED 


THE  BOYS  AND  GIRLS 

OF    A 

REUMTED  COUNTRY. 


602928 


PREFACE 


This  book  is  the  third,  perhaps  the  last,  of 
a  series  of  historical  stories  of  the  war  for  the 
Union. 

In  it,  as  in  "  Jed "  and  "  Tom  Clifton,"  the 
author  has  endeavored  to  teach  the  new  genera- 
tions born  since  the  brave  "  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia "  laid  down  its  arms  at  Appomattox, 
the  story  of  that  conflict,  together  with  lessons 
of  patriotism  and  endurance  for  the  right,  and 
a  broad  spirit  of  national  charity. 

Many  of  its  scenes,  which  may  to  the  present 
generation  read  like  romance,  are  unexaggerated 
recitals  of  real  occurrences. 

The  incidents  of  the  passage  of  the  Sixth 
Massachusetts  through  Baltimore  in  1861  were 
narrated  to  the  writer  by  him  who  is  known 
in  these  pages  as  Colonel  Grim. 

The  escape  by  tunnel  from  Libby  Prison  is, 
with  little  change,  the  thrilling  experience  of  a 
comrade  and  fi'iend. 


viii  PREFA  CE. 

There  is,  the  author  believes,  not  a  description 
of  a  battle  or  scene  of  the  war  in  this  story  that 
is  not  true  to  history  or  to  real  army  life. 

If  it  be  objected  that  the  actors  in  this  story 
are  too  young  to  have  participated  in  great 
events  as  described,  the  reader  has  only  to  count 
backward  from  the  age  of  many  living  veterans 
of  the  war,  to  show  that  this  objection  has  no 
foundation. 

With  this  brief  introduction,  I  dedicate  these 
pages  to  the  children  of  the  new  generation. 

W.  L.  G. 

KoEwicH,  Conn. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  "Nap  Up" 1 

II.  Learning  to  work 11 

III.  A  EUNAWAY 20 

IV.  The  First  Call  to  Arms      ......  29 

V.  The  Sixth  in  Baltimore 40 

VI.  The  Yankees  have  come 52 

VII.  Home  Again 66 

VIII.  The  Patent  Eights  Man 77 

IX.  I  have  the  War  Fever 90 

X.  With  the  Army  in  the  Field 101 

XI.  A  Eecruit  on  the  March 115 

XII.  On  the  Verge  of  Battle 129 

XIII.  Battle  of  Antietam 140 

XIV.  After  the  Battle 156 

XV.  The  Unexpected 171 

XVI.  Campaigning  in  Virginia 184 

XVII.  On  the  Eappahannock 198 

XVIII.  The  Battle  opens 210 

XIX.  The  Attack  on  Marye's  Heights    .     .     .  217 

XX.  The  Eetreat          226 

ix 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XXI.  Discontent 237 

XXII.  A  Visit  to  Washington 247 

XXIII.  A  Court-Maktial 257 

XXIV.  The  Chancellors ville  Campaign    .     .  267 
XXV.  The  Hazard  of  Battle 277 

XXVI.  A  Southern  Point  of  View      ....  286 

XXVII.  The  Dead  Alive 292 

XXVIII.  "  I  can't  GET  OUT " 301 

XXIX.  The  Air  of  Liberty 309 

XXX.  Under  God's  Flag 320 '^. 

XXXI.  In  Washington  Again 332 

XXXII.  At  Home,  and  Off  Again 343 

XXXIII.  In  Front  of  Petersburg 354 

XXXIV.  The  Assault  and  Truce 367 

XXXV.  The  Last  Campaign  opens 379 

XXXVI.  The  Race  for  Life 385 

XXXVII.  The  End 397 


LIST    OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Drawn  by  Frank  T.  Merrill. 
Engraved  by  John  Andrew  and  Son. 

PAGE 

"  I  saw  one  of  our  men  run  forward  to  the  rebel  color- 
bearer  "  Frontispiece 

"  I  soon  encountered  a  boy  about  my  own  age  "...         6 

"  Can  you  strike  ?  " 24 

"  Threw  himself  squarely  in  front  of  our  column,  bear- 
ing a  rebel  flag" 42 

"  It's  my  opinion  that  yer  captain  was  a  fool  "       ...       72 

"  A  party  of  stragglers  with  a  wounded  man  "  .     .     .     .     109 

"See   here,  you  raw  recruits!     Beef   taller's   good  for 

them  sore  heels!" 121 

"The  creature  whinnied,  and  came  hobbling  towards 

me" 178 

"  Get  down  there,  men !     Lie  down!" 222 

"I  pulled  him  to  his  feet,  and  angrily  shook  him  "     .     .     245 

"Two  ragged  prisoners  under  the  persuasive  influence 

of  my  revolver  " 283 


xii  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

"  We  were  marched  through  the  streets  to  Libby  "     .     .  289 

"  How   are   you,  old  fellow  ?     Have  a  piece  of  toasted 

bread?" 296 

"  We  almost  ran  over  a  black  man  " 330 

"  The  man  I'eeled,  and  fell  into  the  trench  "      ....  359 

"  General  Blusterson  and  staff  rode  forward  and  saluted 

Sheridan  "  . 394 


JACK   ALDEN; 

A    STORY    OF   ADVENTURES    IN    THE 
VIRGINIA    CAMPAIGNS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

"NAP   IIP." 


Smash  went  my  new  ball  through  the  window 
of  our  dining-room,  crashing  like  a  l)omb  among 
the  crockery  on  the  table. 

"  Oh !  "  exclaimed  my  mother,  "  the  new  cups 
and  saucers!     The  set  is  ruined!" 

My  father,  who  was  at  home  ill  for  a  few  days, 
came  into  the  dining-room,  whither  I  had  been 
dragged  as  an  offender,  and  where  my  poor  mother, 
tearfully  wringing  her  hands  in  dismay  over  the 
broken  crockery,  cried  out  as  my  father  came  in, 
"  Just  see  what  Jack  has  done !  It  does  seem  as 
if  everything  in  this  house  was  going  to  rack  and 
ruin ! " 

Father  looked  ruefully  at  the  wreckage  for  a 
minute,  and  then  said  with  a  forced  smile,  "  Well, 
mother,  if  we  have  children  we  can't  have  every- 

1 


2  JACK  ALDEN. 

thing  else.  Didn't  I  tell  you  we  were  always 
'nap  up'  in  this  family?" 

My  father  in  this  remark  referred  to  an  incident 
of  the  previous  week,  when  the  material  for  new 
suits  for  my  two  brothers  and  myself,  which  had 
been  sent  to  the  tailor's  to  be  cut,  had  been  re- 
turned with  the  garments  cut  the  wrong  way  of 
the  cloth.  At  fii-st  father  had  been  much  vexed ; 
but  on  being  told  that  in  consequence  of  the  mis- 
take nothing  would  be  charged  for  the  cutting,  his 
face  lit  up  with  a  smile,  as  he  remarked,  "•  I  don't 
know  that  it  makes  much  difference.  It  seems  to 
be  the  natural  condition  of  a  large  family  to  be 
'  nap  up,'  and  I  expect  to  go  through  life  so." 

What  is  sometimes  known  as  "  a  good  old- 
fashioned  family,"  such  as  was  my  father's,  is  not 
so  common  now  as  in  times  past.  I  believe,  how- 
ever, that  it  is  one  of  the  best  training-schools  that 
a  child  can  have.  It  was  here  that  I  learned,  early 
in  life,  to  fight  my  own  battles,  and  to  estimate 
myself,  if  not  others,  at  my  proper  value. 

My  father,  if  not  a  poor  man,  was  at  least  not 
regarded  as  a  rich  one,  even  at  a  time  when  in 
New  Enofland  ten  thousand  dollars  was  considered 
a  fortune. 

He  v/as  a  small  contractor  in  masonry  and  stone- 
building  during  the  summer  months,  and  in  winter 
taught  the  district  school,  at  a  time  when  masters 
were  as  important  in  the  schoolroom  as  teachers. 

In  the  coast  town  of  Centerboro'  robust  young 


''NAP   UP.  3 

men,  who  served  as  first  and  second  mates  of 
coasting-vessels,  often  attended  district  schools 
during  the  winter,  to  learn  navigation,  and  to 
write,  and  cipher  as  far  as  "  the  rule  of  three." 

My  father  was  a  graduate  of  a  well-known 
New  England  college,  and,  as  a  master,  was  such 
a  complete  success  that  none  of  his  unruly  pupils 
had  ever  succeeded  in  their  attempts  to  turn  him 
out  of  the  schoolroom,  or  in  any  other  way  to  get 
the  better  of  him.  He  ruled  with  a  rod  of  iron, 
and  punished  unmercifully  all  who  attempted  to 
dispute  his  sway.  Such  were  the  methods  of  those 
days.  I  mention  this  fact,  because  his  government 
in  his  own  home  was  in  direct  contrast  to  his 
schoolroom  methods.  In  his  own  household  he 
did  not  exact  that  strict  discipline  which  is,  I 
believe,  too  often  a  mistake  in  family  government. 
I  have  heard  him  remark  that  a  large  family  was  a 
miniature  republic,  in  which  the  members,  if  not 
governed  too  much,  would  the  sooner  learn  self- 
government.  That  if  children  are  governed  too 
strictly,  they  lose  that  spontaneous  and  full  enjoy- 
ment of  life  to  which  they  are  as  much  entitled 
as  their  elders. 

I  have  since  observed  that  young  people  who  are 
too  much  restricted  and  hampered  b}^  prohibitory 
rules  become  either  unhappy  or  priggish,  and  lose 
that  joyous  quality  of  mind  which  contributes  so 
much  to  their  buoyancy  in  after-life. 

Is  it  not  also  true  that  when  restricted  by  tyran- 


4  JACK  ALDEN. 

nical  rules,  children,  like  older  people  under  such 
conditions,  develop  hypocritical  and  cringing  syc- 
ophancy, or  break  out  in  open  revolt  ?  I  believe 
it  may  be  laid  down  as  a  rule,  that  as  a  river  runs 
most  smoothly  when  least  obstructed,  so  he  who  is 
least  hampered  by  small  restrictions  is  least  liable 
to  break  beyond  bounds. 

Be  this  moralizing  true  or  false,  it  is  true  that  in 
our  family  of  many  children,  our  father  seldom  in- 
terfered with  innocent  and  often  noisy  amusements, 
though  he  reasoned  with  or  censured  us  when 
guilty  of  injustice  to  one  another. 

It  was  in  this  "  go  as  you  please,  if  you  injure 
no  one,"  method  of  government  that  I  was  reared 
until  twelve  years  of  age.  I  also  realized,  in  this 
democracy  of  the  famil}^,  that  the  world  was  not 
for  me  alone,  and  learned  to  show  a  proper  con- 
sideration for  others.  I  observed  that  here,  as 
in  larger  spheres  of  action,  the  tendency  of  con- 
flicts or  strong  rivalry  was  to  leave  things  "  nap 
up." 

But  the  happy  days  of  our  family  were  num- 
bered. The  family  circle,  soon  after  the  incident 
I  have  recorded  in  the  opening  of  this  chapter, 
was  broken  by  the  death  of  our  dear  father,  after 
an  illness  of  only  a  few  weeks.  During  the  last 
few  days  of  his  illness  he  was  visited  by  his 
younger  brother,  who  executed  some  papers,  the 
nature  of  which  none  of  us  understood,  though  we 


"  NAP  upy  5 

believed  them  at  the  time  to  be  my  father's  will. 
This  uncle  Richard  was  reputed  to  be  a  sharp 
business  man  and  a  money-getter. 

To  my  mother's  surprise,  after  father's  sickness 
and  burial  she  discovered  that  my  uncle  Richard 
held  a  heavy  mortgage,  but  lately  executed,  on  the 
house  and  farm,  on  which  depended  the  support 
of  her  family.  What  had  become  of  the  money 
received  on  the  morto-acfe? 

Several  freshly  receipted  bills  were  found  ;  and 
my  uncle  exhibited  memoranda  of  his  own,  of 
moneys  that  he  claimed  had  been  loaned  my 
father,  sufficient  to  make  up  the  sum  named  in 
the  mortgage. 

A  council  of  relatives  and  friends  was  convened 
to  consider  the  future  support  of  the  family. 
After  due  discussion  they  advised  that  the  boys 
and  girls  too  j^oung  to  work  should  remain  with 
my  mother,  while  Robert,  the  eldest,  managed  our 
little  farm  for  their  benefit  and  support;  the  other, 
children  were  to  be  distributed  among  relatives 
and  friends. 

It  was  my  misfortune,  in  this  distribution,  to 
fall  into  the  hands  of  my  uncle  Richard,  who 
agreed  to  take  me  into  his  family,  and  treat 
me  as  his  son,  he  having  no  children  of  his 
own.  I  was  to  receive  my  board,  clothing,  and 
six  months'  schooling  each  year,  in  return  for 
my  services  until  I  was  eighteen  years  of  age. 

At  that  age,  not  much  over  twelve,  a  boy  knows 


6  JACK  A  LI)  EN. 

little  of  life,  and  dreads  nothing  which  is  not 
tangible  to  him  in  some  unpleasant  form. 

I  remained  at  home  for  a  few  weeks  after  this, 
while  my  scanty  wardrobe  was  being  put  in  order. 
Then,  accompanied  by  my  mother,  I  was  driven 
fifteen  miles  to  the  railroad  station,  to  be  sent  to 
my  uncle,  feeling  none  of  those  forebodings  which 
seemed  to  oppress  my  sorrowing  mother. 

I  had  never  before  seen  a  railroad,  or  any  of  the 
wonders  connected  therewith,  and  was  bristling 
with  curiosity.  Naturally  visionary,  and  not  a  lit- 
tle absent-minded,  I  heeded  but  little  the  parting 
admonitions  of  my  pale-faced  mother. 

The  railroad  cars,  fine  with  gilded  decorations 
and  red  plush;  the  hoarse  whistle  of  the  locomo- 
tive ;  the  creaking  brakes,  and  the  clatter  of  the 
train  in  motion,  —  seemed  to  my  fanc}^  as  wonder- 
ful as  a  scene  from  the  "  Arabian  Nights." 

My  attention  was  so  taken  up  with  these  won- 
ders, that  after  I  had  changed  cars  at  Myric's  for 
my  destination,  I  found  to  my  dismay  that  1  had 
left  my  satchel  on  the  seat  of  the  car  from  which 
I  had  changed.  On  my  arrival  at  Shoeboro',  I 
could  at  first  see  no  signs  of  any  one  who  would 
conduct  me  to  my  uncle's. 

I  had  not  regarded  the  loss  of  my  baggage  as  a 
very  serious  matter,  and  walked  the  long  platform, 
asking  questions  of  every  one  I  met,  like  a  living 
interrogation  point.  I  soon  encountered  a  boy 
about  my  own  age,  with   light  curling  hair,  and 


"  I  soon  encountered  a  boy  about  my  own  age. 
—  Page  6. 


"NAP   UP.  7 

large  mirthful  blue  eyes,  his  soft  hat  on  the  side 
of  his  head.  He  held  a  whip  in  his  hand,  which 
he  occasionally  cracked  in  a  most  wonderful 
manner  as  he  talked,  exclaiming,  "Say!  can 
you  do  that?"  and  then  after  a  moment  added, 
as  if  it  were  secondary  to  that  performance, 
"  See  here,  are  you  the  feller  that's  goin'  up  to 
Alden's?" 

"  Yes,"  I  said,  not  surprised  that  a  stranger 
should  know  me.     "Have  you  come  for  me?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  my  new  acquaintance  ;  "  where's 
your  baggage.  "  I'll  help  you  up  to  the  Corners 
with  it,  where  the  team  is."  Then  he  added, 
"  I've  just  brought  in  a  lot  of  shoes,  —  killed  two 
birds  with  one  stone,  you  see." 

I  explained  that  I  had  left  my  satchel  in  the  car 
when  I  changed  at  Myric's. 

The  boy  whistled  a  long,  melancholy  note, 
looked  at  me  as  if  with  wonder  at  my  announce- 
ment, cracked  his  whip,  reflected  as  he  said, 
"Won't  the  old  man  just  be  mad!  Well,  come 
along." 

"Who,"  I  inquired,  "is  the  old  man?" 

"  Why,  I  mean  Richard  Alden ;  we  always  call 
him  the  '  old  man '  behind  his  back.  He's  a  tough 
customer  —  a  driver,  I  tell  you  !  " 

After  reaching  the  team  at  the  Corners,  I  said, 
as  if  in  continuation  of  the  conversation,  "  My 
uncle  is  a  deacon  of  the  church,  and  I'm  told  is 
a  prayerful  man." 


8  JACK  ALDEN. 

Now,  I  confess  it  did  not  interest  me  whether 
my  uncle  was  either  a  deacon  or  prayerful ;  but 
being  away  from  home,  and  having  on  my  Sun- 
day clothes,  I  thought  it  the  proper  thing  to  im- 
press my  acquaintance  with  a  few  stately  company 
remarks,  as  I  had  heard  my  elders  do. 

The  boy  winked,  cracked  his  whip  again,  and 
laughed  as  he  said,  "  Yes,  Deacon  Alden  is  mighty 
prayerful ;  but  during  haying-time  and  other  busy 
seasons  he  runs  prayers  and  business  pretty  close 
together,  —  time  is  money,  you  know." 

"What  do  you  mean,"  I  inquired,  "by  run- 
ning them  together  ?  "  For  reply,  the  boy  said, 
"Amen  —  Add,  hitch  up  the  horses,"  in  sharp, 
nasal  tones  so  like  my  uncle  that  I  laughed  heart- 

"  So  Add  is  your  name  ?  "  I  said  inquiringly. 

"  No ;  my  name  is  Addison  —  named  after  some 
big  man;  but  they  call  me  Add  for  short — han- 
dier in  haying-time,"  said  the  boy  with  a  wink. 

I  was  still  laughing  when  the  team  halted  be- 
fore a  house  situated  on  a  grassy  knoll  at  a  fork  of 
the  road,  and  where  Add,  jumping  out,  exclaimed, 
"  Here  we  are !  " 

I  had  arrived  at  my  uncle  Richard's. 

In  addition  to  the  house,  there  was  a  weather- 
beaten  barn,  and  between  the  house  and  barn  stood 
a  low  framed  building,  with  a  pile  of  fresh  leather 
chips  in  front  of  it. 

"That,"  said  Add,  with   a   snap   of   his   w^hip 


"NAP  up:'  9 

towards  the  low  building,  "  is  the  shoe-shoj) ; 
plantin'-tiine  is  just  over,  and  the  teams  will  start 
up  to-morrow." 

Seeing  that  I  did  not  understand,  he  continued, 
"  A  team  is  a  gang  of  men  for  making  shoes,  in 
which  each  one  of  'em  does  a  part.  I  last  and  peg 
'em ;  Jim  Dean,  that  feller  you  see  coming  out  of 
the  shop,  trims  edges ;  the  old  man  fits  outer  soles 
and  puts  on  heels ;  and  Elbridge  Mason,  that  boy 
you  see  coming  down  the  road,  works  mornings 
and  nights  and  Saturdays,  when  out  of  school. 
You'll  get  into  it  as  soon  as  you  want  to.  Here's 
the  old  man." 

At  the  sight  of  my  uncle  Richard,  Add's  whole 
manner  changed ;  he  drew  down  his  face,  and  no 
longer  cracked  his  whip,  whistled,  winked,  or 
talked. 

Richard  Alden  came  out  as  we  were  unhitching 
the  horses,  spoke  sharply  about  one  of  the  traces 
that  was  hanging  in  the  mud,  taking  no  notice  of 
me,  until  I  explained  that  I  had  lost  my  satchel, 
when  he  stopped  short  in  adjusting  the  traces,  and 
looked  at  me  with  his  fishy  light-blue  eyes ;  and 
though  he  made  no  remark,  and  there  was  nothing 
in  his  manner  out  of  the  ordinary,  except  his  cold, 
harsh  voice  to  imply  anger,  yet  I  felt  in  some  way 
that  I  had  not  heard  the  last  from  him  about  the 
loss  of  that  satchel. 

"  Well,  come  and  get  your  supper,"  said  my 
uncle,  as   he   walked  briskly   towards   the   house, 


10  JACK  ALDEN. 

looking  back  once  or  twice  as  if  to  liuny  the  rest 
of  us. 

My  uncle's  wife  was  a  pale,  overworked  woman, 
with  a  patient,  pleasant  face  ;  and  once  as  she 
touched  my  hand  in  passing  food,  in  some  inde- 
finable way  I  felt  that  I  should  find  in  her  a 
friend. 

After  the  blessing,  my  uncle  ate  in  silence,  and 
over  the  table  there  feel  a  chilly  reserve  —  not 
unusual  for  the  family  tables  of  New  England 
working-people,  but  in  marked  contrast  to  the 
chatty,  pleasant  one  to  which  I  had  been  accus- 
tomed. 

That  night  I  was  shown  to  an  attic  room  by  my 
aunt,  from  whom  I  once  more  received  a  com- 
forting intimation  of  friendliness  and  sympathy, 
though  there  was  hardly  a  word  spoken  between 
us. 

Before  I  went  to  sleep  I  had  remarked  to  Add, 
who  occupied  the  room  with  me,  that  I  didn't 
think  I  should  like  living  with  my  uncle  Richard. 


LEARNING   TO   WORK.  11 


CHAPTER   II. 

LEAENING  TO  WORK. 

The  morning  after  my  arrival  I  took  my  first 
instructions  in  bottoming  shoes,  as  it  was  called. 

Tlie  workshop  was  some  twenty  feet  square. 
Around  its  walls  were  what  were  called,  "stand- 
up  benches,"  at  which  a  dozen  men  and  boys  were 
at  work.  The  centre  of  the  shop  was  occupied  by 
a  machine  for  rolling  leather,  to  which  was  fast- 
ened a  skiver  for  thinning  the  material,  and  a  ma- 
chine for  cutting  welts.  There  was  also  a  low 
tub  near  by  half  filled  w^th  water,  called  a  shop- 
tub,  and  used  for  wetting  leather. 

Such  were  the  simple  equipments  of  the  shoe- 
making  industry  thirty-five  years  ago.  The  great 
shoe-manufacturing  system  of  the  present  day, 
with  the  machinery  for  sewing,  pegging,  trimming, 
and  lasting,  had  not  then  been  invented.  The 
bottoming  of  boots  and  shoes,  however,  had  al- 
ready become  a  standard  industr}-  in  Massachu- 
setts towns ;  and  little  shoemakiug  shops  dotted 
the  country,  and  were  a  part  of  the  environment 
of  the  farms  and  villages  within  thirty-five  miles 
of  Boston. 


12  JACK  ALDEN. 

Richard  Alden  had  taken  up  this  work ;  and  his 
economy,  calculation,  and  energy  were  such,  that 
he  was  known  the  country  round  as  "  a  driver '-' 
and  "  money-getter,"  qualities  for  which  the  aver- 
age New  Englander  has  so  great  respect,  that  of 
such  are  reverently  made  its  deacons,  selectmen, 
and  members  of  "  the  Great  and  General  Court," 
even  to  this  day. 

Uncle  Richard  had  what  was  termed  "the 
faculty"  to  run  his  farm  and  shoe-business  to- 
gether, making  "  one  hand  wash  the  other,"  as 
New  England  people  call  it,  and  making  both 
occupations  profitable.  In  this  manner  he  was 
reputed  to  be  "laying  up  money." 

I  took  my  place  under  his  directions  at  one  of 
the  benches,  by  the  side  of  a  device  known  as  a 
"  jack,"  by  which  the  shoe  was  firmly  held  with  the 
sole  upward.  I  was  instructed  how  to  drive  pegs, 
and  then  left  to  learn  the  rest  by  experiment.  I 
first  drove  the  awl  into  the  leather,  and  tugged 
hard  to  get  it  out.  I  was  shown  how  to  hold  the 
handle  loosely,  with  the  hand  pressed  to  the  sole 
of  the  shoe,  while  I  struck  it  with  ni}^  hammer, 
then  suddenly  to  tighten  my  grasp,  which  would 
bring  the  awl  out  easil3^ 

In  attempting  to  follow  these  instructions,  I 
caught  the  fleshy  part  of  my  hand,  next  to  the 
little  finger,  between  the  iron  hasp  and  the  shoe. 
It  hurt  me  so  sharply  as  to  bring  tears  to  my 
eyes. 


LEARNING   TO    WORK.  13 

This  flurried  me  so,  that  I  became  nervous,  and 
began  to  break  awls  almost  as  fast  as  I  could 
fit  them  into  the  hasp.  Richard  Alden  soon  de- 
tected this  fact,  and,  coming  to  my  bench,  angrily 
exclaimed,  "  Why  don't  you  work  as  I  told  you 
to  ?  "  I  replied  that  I  had  hurt  my  hand.  Where- 
upon he  struck  me  with  the  welt  he  held,  exclaim- 
ing, "  I'll  learn  yer  to  destroy  property !  " 

The  workman  at  the  bench  next  to  mine  said 
sympathetically,  "  It's  too  bad  to  strike  a  little 
fellow  like  that.  Deacon."  Whereupon  my  uncle 
struck  me  twice  more  with  the  welt,  exclaiming, 
as  if  I  had  made  the  remark,  "  I'll  learn  yer  to 
give  back-talk !  " 

William  Reed,  the  workman  mentioned,  flushed, 
and  turning  his  back  to  his  bench  said  indignantly, 
"  If  you  strike  that  little  fellow  again,  Alden,  I'll 
never  do  another  stroke  of  work  in  your  shop. 
The  boy  ain't  to  blame.  Can't  you  see  that  the 
leather  is  too  wet  ?  " 

My  uncle  turned  pale,  hesitated,  then  went  to 
his  bench,  sa3ang,  "  The  boy  is  a  good-for-nothin'. 
He  lost  his  baggage  comin'  down,  and  it's  goin' 
to  cost  me  no  end  of  money  to  find  it." 

I  had  never  before  been  struck  in  mj  life;  and  I 
could  scarcely  keep  from  crying,  not  so  much  from 
pain  as  from  homesickness  and  humiliation.  I  did 
not  then  understand  why  my  uncle  had  yielded  to 
his  workman  so  abjectly,  but  afterwards  learned 
that  William  Reed  was  the  best  workman  in  the 


14  JACK  ALDEN. 

shop,  and  was  a  man  of  some  property ;  and  I  sus- 
pected that  my  uncle  owed  him  money. 

After  this  Reed  became  my  instructor,  and 
quickly  taught  me  my  work.  So  that  in  a  short 
time  I  was  able  to  do  my  part  well  and  quickly ; 
yet  I  could  not  seem  to  do  enough  to  win  a  pleas- 
ant word  from  uncle  Richard. 

That  winter  T  attended  school,  working  in  the 
shoe-shop  mornings  and  evenings ;  often  going  to 
work  before  daylight,  and  working  after  school  as 
late  as  nine  or  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

While  I  do  not  think  that  habits  of  work  are 
the  worst  things  that  can  be  learned  by  a  boy, 
yet  there  is  such  a  thing  as  overwork ;  and  the 
more  I  did  the  more  my  uncle  exacted. 

I  had  found  out,  before  being  with  my  uncle 
long,  that  his  dominant  passion  was  the  acquisition 
of  money.  During  the  summer  I  worked,  as  did 
the  others  of  the  shop,  on  the  farm,  at  planting, 
hoeing,  haying,  and  other  work  which,  though 
hard,  I  liked  much  better  than  shoemaking,  for 
which  I  had  acquired  the  utmost  distaste. 

My  aunt,  during  all  the  time  that  I  stayed  with 
Deacon  Alden,  was  very  good  to  me.  The  poor 
woman  had  no  children  of  her  own,  and  her  heart 
seemed  to  warm  in  sympathy  toward  me.  Many  a 
time  she  comforted  me ;  and  more  than  once  gave 
me,  from  her  scanty  purse,  money  earned  by  stitch- 
ing and  binding  shoes.  For  after  doing  the 
housework  for  a  large  family,  my  uncle  permitted 


LEARNING   TO   WORK.  15 

her  to  earn  money  in  this  manner  for  her  own 
clothes. 

The  winter  following  I  was  not  sent  to  school,  as 
business  was  what  my  uncle  called  "  too  driving." 

At  that  time  my  stint  was  the  lasting  and  peg- 
ging of  twelve  pairs  of  men's  shoes  each  da}^ 
often  supplemented  by  cutting  wood  for  the  house, 
and  milking  the  cow.  Eighteen  cents  a  pair  was 
at  that  time  considered  a  good  price  for  making  ; 
and  our  shop's  crew  "made  and  carried  in"  two 
sixty  pair  lots  for  each  team,  every  five  days. 

At  first  I  had  tried  to  write  to  my  mother  as 
often  as  once  a  month ;  but  the  cost  of  postage  and 
paper,  and  the  work  of  writing,  not  to  mention  the 
folding  of  letters,  which,  in  those  days  before  en- 
velopes were  in  use,  was  a  work  of  art,  were 
to  me  almost  insurmountable  hindrances  to  cor- 
respondence, and  I  finally  ceased  to  write  home. 

My  mother  had  not  made  answer  to  a  letter  I 
wrote  complaining  that  I  had  not  been  sent  to 
school,  and  the  letters  I  had  received  were  filled 
with  counsel  to  respect  and  obey  my  uncle. 

Little  occurred  to  break  the  monotony  of  niv 
hard  work  during  this  time,  except  the  passing  of 
an  occasional  circus,  which  I  was  not  allowed  to 
attend ;  or,  "  Musters,"  as  military  trainings  of 
those  days  were  called.  Most  of  the  men  in  our 
shop  belonged  to  militia  companies,  and  when 
there  was  no  farm-work  I  was  allowed  to  go. 

The  first  muster  I  attended  was  for  me  a  sreat 


16  JACK  ALDEN. 

and  never-to-be-forgotten  event.  I  gazed  almost 
breathlessly  at  the  glittering  pageant. 

I  never  expected,  however,  to  become  so  bril- 
liant a  member  of  society  as  one  of  those  button- 
spangled  creatures,  a  militia-man.  I  had,  by  extra 
work,  saved  a  little  money  for  this  occasion;  and 
this  I  spent  at  a  mock  auction,  where  things  were 
going  so  cheap  that  I  felt  that  it  was  ruinous  not 
to  invest. 

Finding  my  money  almost  gone,  in  order  to 
make  it  last  the  longer,  and  to  have  a  final  blow- 
out, I  bought  a  bunch  of  fire-crackers,  and  a  cin- 
namon cigar,  at  which  I  puffed,  lighting  my 
fire-crackers  thereby,  until  not  feeling  well  I  reeled 
down  the  railroad  track  on  my  way  home,  occa- 
sionally halting  to  play  "  Niagara  Falls,"  as  Add 
termed  it,  for  I  was  dreadfully  sick,  and  felt  that 
I  should  not  live  to  get  home.  Uncle  Richard 
was  furious  because  I  was  too  sick  to  do  the  even- 
ing "chores."  By  this  experience  at  my  first 
military  muster  I  learned,  if  nothing  else,  to  avoid 
the  pernicious  use  of  tobacco,  which  is  an  injurious 
habit  for  man  or  boy,  and  one  wdiich  cannot  but  be 
severely  condemned. 

Soon  after  this  event  Add  became  possessed 
with  a  musical  craze  ;  he  bought  a  brass  instru- 
ment, and  set  the  neighborhood  wild  while  prac- 
tisino-  on  it,  back  of  the  house  and  in  the  barn, 
mornings  and  evenings. 

My  uncle  was  paying  Add  five  dollars  a  month 


LEARNING    TO    WORK.  17 

and  board  for  his  shop  and  farm  work,  and  con- 
sidered himself  defrauded  by  the  time  given  to 
the  trombone ;  for  that  was  the  intricate  instru- 
ment Add  was  struggling  to  master. 

The  result  was,  that  as  Add  grew  earnest  in 
blowing  that  instrument,  the  disagreement  with 
uncle  Richard  enlarged,  until  at  last  Add  indig- 
nantly packed  his  kit,  and  moved  to  another  town, 
where  he  got  work,  and  declared  that  his  musical 
study  should  not  be  interrupted. 

William  Reed  also  moved  to  a  town  nearer 
Boston,  where  he  had  bought  out  a  blacksmith- 
ing  business ;  for  like  many  other  New  England 
mechanics  he  had  "  more  than  one  string  to  his 
bow,"  and  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade — shoe- 
making  being  simply  a  makeshift. 

M}^  work  in  the  shop  after  this  had  become 
harder  than  ever  before.  I  was  very  fond  of 
reading  ;  and  Richard  Alden  considered  this  an 
offence,  because  it  diverted  my  attention  in  an- 
other direction  than  that  of  his  own  business. 

At  this  time  the  anti-slavery  agitation  was  at  its 
height.  The  speeches  of  Wilson,  Banks,  Sumner, 
and  Burlingame  and  their  opponents  were  exciting 
national  attention ;  and  I  had  become  very  much 
interested,  and  at  times  excited,  by  reading  the 
occurrences  of  that  period. 

My  uncle  took  no  newspapers,  but  borrowed 
those  of  his  neighbors.  He  was  a  pro-slavery 
Democrat  in  politics,  and  had  but  little  sympathy 


18  JACK  ALDEN. 

with  the  abolitionists,  as  he  designated  all  who 
diflFered  from  him. 

One  of  our  neighbors  was  the  widow  Mason, 
with  whose  son  I  became  quite  intimate,  and  who 
sometimes  worked  in  the  shoeshop.  He  loaned 
me  books,  and  was  very  well-read. 

My  uncle  had  sent  me  to  borrow  the  Boston  Post 
of  them  one  morning,  and  I  was  reading  it  while 
slowly  coming  down  the  road.  On  arriving  in 
front  of  the  house,  where  he  had  been  watching 
me,  I  found  him  in  a  great  rage  over  what  he 
termed  my  loafing.  I  was  so  much  interested, 
however,  that  I  read  the  concluding  paragraph 
of  a  speech  before  I  handed  the  paper  to  him, 
whereupon  he  struck  me  a  blow  with  the  cart- 
whip  which  he  held  in  his  hand. 

At  this  time  I  was  over  fourteen  years  old,  and 
large  and  athletic  for  my  age.  My  sense  of  in- 
justice and  tyranny,  long  restrained,  now  broke 
its  bonds ;  and  when  he  attempted  to  strike  me 
again,  I  wrested  the  whip  from  his  hand,  and  stood 
flushed  with  anger  and  defiance  before  him. 

"  That's  the  way  yer  show  yer  gratitude  to  a 
man  that  keeps  yer  out  of  the  jjoorhouse,  is  it?" 
he  exclaimed. 

At  this  taunt,  which  was  worse  to  ray  pride  than 
the  blow,  I  angrily  replied,  "  Where's  the  schooling 
you  was  to  give  me  ?  Where's  my  father's  money 
you  took  from  him  when  he  was  dying?" 

At  this  my  uncle  turned  pale,  actually  staggered 


LEARNING   TO   WORK.  19 

as  if  struck,  then  went  to  the  shop,  and  brought 
out  a  large  sole-leather  welt  and  a  rope,  and,  furi- 
ously coming  towards  me,  exclaimed,  "  I'll  tie  yer 
up  and  whip  yer,  yer  dog,  till  yer  take  that  back  ! " 
at  the  same  time  attempting  to  seize  me.  I  re- 
versed the  whip,  which  I  still  held  in  my  hand, 
struck  his  knuckles  until  he  let  me  go,  and  then 
ran  from  the  vicinity  of  the  house. 

I  had  many  times  thought  of  running  away 
from  home.  I  had,  however,  considered  that  any 
action  of  this  kind  would  grieve  my  mother,  who, 
I  well  enough  knew,  had  care  enough  without  any 
additional  from  me.  I  had  been  taught  to  respect 
my  elders,  and  my  conscience  was  not  a  little 
troubled  at  the  thought  of  my  assault  on  my 
uncle.  Although  in  maturer  age  I  cannot  justify 
my  attack  on  liim,  yet  I  certainly  had  some  excuse 
for  my  conduct.  It  was,  at  least,  not  all  the  re- 
sult of  headstrong  wickedness,  as  Richard  Alden 
afterwards  declared.  I  knew  enough  of  my  un- 
cle's character  to  know  that  he  would  abuse  me 
more  than  ever  if  I  now  submitted  to  him,  and 
that  in  any  case  I  should  get  a  most  terrible  beat- 
ing if  I  remained  with  him. 

A  blow  has  always  angered  and  filled  me  with 
resentment ;  and  now  that  I  had  once  turned  on 
my  tyrant,  there  was  no  other  course  but  to  con- 
tinue resistance,  or  run  away  from  Richard  Alden's 
control.  I  determined  first,  however,  simply  to  go 
home  to  my  mother's  house. 


20  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER    III. 

A   RUNAWAY. 

My  experience  in  life  has  taught  me  that  mem- 
oiy  registers  less  of  pain  than  of  pleasure.  That 
I  cannot  even  now  recall  the  scenes  of  which  the 
foregoing  chapter  is  a  record,  without  a  return  of 
the  feelings  which  I  then  suffered,  shows  the 
mental  anguish  I  endured,  and  which  prompted 
my  determination  to  run  away. 

So  lonsf  as  Richard  Alden  was  in  the  house  I 
could  not  return  for  my  clothing  without  a  collis- 
ion with  some  one  within.  I  no  longer  feared 
my  uncle,  but  simply  wished  to  avoid  him  forever. 

I  did  not,  therefore,  venture  in  the  direction  of 
the  house  until  late  that  afternoon,  when  I  saw 
him  leave  with  his  team,  "  to  carry  in  shoes  "  to 
the  manufactory  at  the  Corners,  as  he  often  did 
in  the  evening,  in  order  to  save  time.  Then  I 
went  to  the  house,  and  confided  all  my  griefs  to 
my  aunt,  as  if  to  my  own  mother.  It  comforted 
me  greatly  that  she  did  not  utter  a  word  of  blame. 
After  she  had  fed  me,  and  shed  some  sympathetic 
tears,  I  told  her  I  could  endure  it  no  longer,  and 
had  made  up  my  mind  to  go  back  to  my  mother. 


A   RUNAWAY.  21 

Uttering  no  word  of  censure  against  her  hus- 
band, she,  in  reply,  pointed  out  to  me  that  my 
mother  would  probably  send  me  back  again,  and 
then  it  would  be  the  worse  for  me  ;  while  if  she  did 
not  send  me  back,  it  would  be  the  worse  for  her ; 
that  uncle  Alden  would  probably  foreclose  the 
mortgage  on  our  farm,  as  he  had  often  threatened 
to  do. 

But  no  argument  could  change  my  resolution ; 
and  an  hour  afterward  I  had  reached  the  railroad, 
with  my  poor  satchel,  in  which,  besides  a  change 
of  underclothes,  there  was  a  tin  box  with  a  lunch 
of  meat  and  bread. 

I  had  three  dollars  in  my  pocket,  two  of  which 
my  aunt  had  forced  upon  me  from  her  own  scanty 
earnings. 

I  walked  that  night  some  five  miles  to  Water- 
bridge  (a  station  on  my  way  to  Boston)  ;  looked 
up  Addison,  who  was  working  there ;  was  enter- 
tained with  the  music  of  his  trombone,  which 
seemed  large  for  so  small  a  boy;  and  slept  with 
him  that  night,  Avith  the  intention  of  walking  to 
Boston  the  next  day.  Add  disapproved  of  this 
walk,  although  he  heartily  approved  of  my  run- 
ning away. 

"  Better  save  your  breath,"  said  he,  "  to  cool 
your  porridge.  Why,  a  walk  to  Boston  will  wear 
out  your  strength,  and  your  clothes  and  shoes  ;  and 
you'll  need  them  all  when  you  get  there." 

I  could  have  hired  out  at  shoemakina^  in  Water- 


22  JACK  ALDEN. 

bridge,  where  Add  worked;  but,  not  liking  to  be 
so  near  my  uncle,  I  determined  to  seek  my  for- 
tune elsewhere. 

I  got  up  early  that  morning;  for  how  could  I  do 
otherwise,  when  Add  was  up  at  four  o'clock  to 
practise  in  his  bedroom  on  that  trombone?  It 
was  fortunate  for  me  that  I  did  so. 

I  bought  my  ticket,  and  got  on  the  first  train 
for  Boston,  and  was  just  moving  from  the  station, 
when  uncle  Richard  drove  up  furiously  too  late  to 
catch  me. 

The  last  seen  of  him,  he  was  standing  up  in 
his  wagon,  making  frantic  gestures  as  if  to  stop 
the  train. 

Arriving  in  Boston,  I  at  once  inquired  the  way 
to  Pearl  Street,  having  been  told  that  there  was 
a  large  number  of  boot  and  shoe  firms  there.  It 
soon  appeared,  however,  that  they  were  large  deal- 
ers, instead  of  shoe  manufacturers;  and  after  en- 
deavoring all  day  to  get  work,  I  concluded  to  go 
to  Spindleville,  supposing  that  William  Reed  lived 
there. 

That  evening,  believing  myself  on  my  way  to 
the  station,  I  came  to  a  long  bridge  —  crossed  it, 
and  stopped  at  a  little  building  at  the  farther  end, 
where  pies,  cakes,  and  peanuts  were  sold.  The 
"  Little  Red  Bonnet,"  as  I  think  it  was  called,  was 
kept  by  an  old  Scotchman,  with  so  kindly  a  face 
that  I  inquired  of  him  the  way  to  the  station.  He 
informed  me  that  I  had  come  the  wrong  way,  and. 


A   RUNAWAY.  23 

must  retrace  my  steps  across  the  bridge,  and  then 
probably  should  not  reach  the  station  in  season 
to  take  the  last  train  for  Spindle ville. 

My  face  must  have  expressed  my  anxiety;  for 
he  began  to  question  me,  and  soon  learned  my 
story.  He  invited  me  into  a  little  room  back  of 
his  peanut  stand,  where  there  were  two  box-like 
beds,  in  one  of  which  he  told  me  I  could  sleep  that 
night.  I  there  learned,  what  my  experience  has 
since  confirmed,  that  tlie  poor  are  often  more 
kindly  and  charitable  in  proportion  to  their  means 
than  richer  people. 

The  next  morning,  after  a  breakfast  of  bread 
and  toasted  cheese,  for  which  the  kindly  Scotch- 
man would  accept  no  payment,  I  went  on  my  way, 
and  took  the  cars  for  Spindleville.  The  price  of 
my  tickets  took  all  but  ten  cents  of  my  remaining 
money. 

On  arriving  at  Spindleville,  I  began  to  inquire 
at  every  blacksmith-shop  for  William  Reed.  No 
one  knew  him ;  and  my  heart  sank  at  the  prospect 
when  afternoon  came,  and  no  trace  of  him  had 
been  found  in  that  city.  I  had  spent  the  last  of 
my  money  in  crackers  and  cheese  for  my  dinner, 
and  my  chances  looked  gloom5^ 

On  my  way  to  one  of  the  large  cotton-mills  for 
employment,  I  saw  a  blacksmith-shop,  where  were  a 
number  of  men  at  work.  Entering,  I  once  more 
inquired  for  William  Reed.  The  boss,  who  was 
working  at  a  forge,  after  hammering  a  while,  put 


24  JACK  ALDEN. 

his  iron  in  the  fire,  and,  with  his  arm  on  the  huge 
bellows,  inquired,  "What  do  you  want  of  Reed  ?  " 

"  To  get  work  with  him,"  I  replied. 

He  looked  at  me  keenly,  and  then  said,  "  You 
are  in  the  wrong  box,  young  feller.  I  know  Reed ; 
his  shop  is  in  Lowell,  not  Spindleville."  Then 
after  a  while  he  said,  as  he  drew  a  huge  iron  from 
the  fire,  "  Can  you  strike  ?  "  At  his  direction  I 
took  up  a  sledge,  and  struck  the  iron  with  it,  re- 
peating the  blows  he  lightly  struck  with  a  hammer. 
He  seemed  pleased  with  the  result,  but  said  doubt- 
fully, "  Pretty  good ;  but  did  you  ever  strike  be- 
fore ?  "  I  replied  that  I  had  not.  "  Well,"  he 
said  slowly,  "you'll  do  nicely  after  a  while;  we 
need  another  striker  in  this  shop.  You'll  find  it 
hard  work  at  first,  but  you  seem  a  good  strong 
young  fellow."  It  is  needless  to  say  that  I  joy- 
fully closed  with  an  offer  of  two  dollars  a  week 
and  my  board. 

That  night,  after  a  good  supper,  I  was  given  a 
neat  room,  and  went  to  my  rest  happy  as  a  king  at 
the  prospect  of  steady,  well-paid  employment,  and 
of  learning  a  business  more  congenial  to  my  tastes 
than  that  of  shoemaking. 

My  employer,  Henry  Grim,  was  about  twenty- 
five  years  of  age,  but  lately  married  to  the 
daughter  of  his  foreman,  William  Craudall,  and 
had  just  settled  in  business.  He  had  been  some- 
thing of  a  traveller,  though  still  a  young  man.  He 
told  me  that  during  the  Kansas  troubles  he  had 


"  Can  you  strike 
-  Pasfe  24. 


A   RUNAWAY.  25 

been  in  that  State,  and  had  previously  been  in 
several  portions  of  the  South.  He  was  an  intel- 
ligent, if  not  a  well-read,  man ;  a  good  judge  of 
human  nature,  and  a  keen  observer  of  events, 
and  I  inferred  from  what  he  told  me,  rather  fond 
of  adventure. 

My  father  had  instilled  into  me  a  love  of  books ; 
and  this  love,  if  not  equivalent  to  an  education, 
sometimes  results  in  obtaining  one.  Grim,  seeing 
that  I  was  fond  of  reading,  allowed  me,  on  coming 
to  his  house,  to  use  his  books ;  and  I  was  soon 
interested  in  Abbott's  "  Napoleon." 

When  Grim  saw  me  thus  engaged  in  reading, 
as  he  said,  "  as  if  hungry  for  it,"  he  nodded 
approvingly,  saying,  "  A  boy  is  all  right  who  has  a 
liking  for  good  books  !  " 

I  served  two  years  with  Henry  Grim,  working 
in  happy  contentment. 

To  say  that  politics  raged  at  this  time  would 
be  putting  it  very  mildly  ;  and  Grim,  finding  my 
opinion  similar  to  his  own,  often  discussed  the 
political  situation  with  me.  He  was  what  his 
father-in-law  called  "a  Black  Republican."  The 
only  sneer  I  ever  saw  on  Grim's  face  was  when 
some  one  insinuated  that  he  might  be  induced  to 
vote  for  Breckinridge,  one  of  the  Democratic  nom- 
inees for  president  in  1860. 

Several  times  I  went  with  him  to  listen  to 
speeches  by  some  of  the  noted  speakers  of  that 
time,    among   them    Wendell    Phillips,    Theodore 


26  JACK  ALDEN. 

Parker,  Henry  Wilson,  and  N.  P.  Banks.  The  two 
last  named  were  my  favorite  speakers;  not  only 
because  they  were  conservative  men,  but  because 
they  had  come  up  from  the  ranks  of  the  working- 
people  of  Massachusetts,  and  represented  their 
hardy  common-sense. 

"  If  I  cared  nothing  for  law,"  said  Grim,  after 
listening  to  Wendell  Phillips,  "  I  should  be  an 
abolitionist ;  but  we  must  obey  laws,  or  descend 
to  anarchy  or  revolution.  The  abolitionists  say 
slavery  is  wrong,  and  I  agree  with  them  ;  but  not 
with  their  logic,  when  they  propose  to  negative 
law  in  order  to  destroy  slavery.  I  am  a  Republi- 
can, because  they  propose  to  restrict  slavery  to 
the  States  where  it  now  exists  by  force  of  local 
enactments.  It  can't  be  wrong  to  keep  slavery 
out  of  the  States  hereafter  seeking  admission  to 
the  Union." 

The  political  campaign  of  1860  Avas  very  excit- 
ing. One  night  Grim  and  myself  had  been  to 
Boston  to  listen  to  Anson  Burlingame.  In  reply 
to  a  threat  made  by  some  Southern  man  in  case 
Abraham  Lincoln  was  elected,  "  to  hurl  upon  the 
North  a  million  of  armed  men,"  Burlingame  ex- 
claimed, "  A  million  of  armed  men  !  Let  them 
come,  with  their  spades  and  coffins  lashed  to  their 
backs  !  " 

On  our  way  home,  Grim  said,  "  That  Burlin- 
game may  see  more  of  the  spade  and  coffin  busi- 
ness than  he  likes." 


A   RUNAWAY.  27 

At  another  time  we  heard  Jefferson  Davis  in 
the  old  "  Cradle  of  Liberty,"  Faneuil  Hall.  He 
was  introduced  by  Caleb  Cushing ;  and  during 
his  speech,  with  clinched  fist,  Davis  said,  "  If 
you  don't  stop  this  discussion  of  our  affairs  and 
your  interference  with  slavery,  we'll  dissolve  the 
Union  ! " 

"  Pretty  plain  talk,  that,"  said  Grim,  when  we 
had  got  on  the  returning  train.  "  There  must 
be  fire  where  there's  so  much  smoke.  We'll  have 
civil  war  sometime." 

Afterwards  when  he  repeated  what  Davis  had 
said  to  Crandall,  he  replied,  '•  Oh,  that's  political 
bluff !  " 

Grim  was  a  member  of  the  Sixth  Regiment  of 
State  Militia,  and  I  had  often  spoken  to  him  of  my 
desire  to  join  it  when  I  had  become  of  proper 
age. 

One  day,  in  reply  to  something  Grim  had  said 
about  war,  his  father-in-law  said,  "  Nonsense  !  men 
have  learned  better  than  to  cut  each  other's  throats 
when  they  don't  agree  ;  now  I  kinder  believe  with 
Burritt  (I  used  to  work  with  him)  that  this  is 
an  era  of  peace,  and  that  probably  we  shall  never 
have  any  more  war." 

Grim  answered  thoughtfully,  "  Well,  human 
nature  ought  to  be  hammered  into  that  shape,  and 
maybe  it  will  one  of  these  days ;  but  we  sha'n't  act 
like  angels  until  we  have  less  of  the  brute  in  us 
than  at  present.     I  kinder  expect  to  see  war  yet ; 


28  JACK  ALDEN. 

just  the  same  as  I  expect  to  shoot  the  first  burglar 
that  breaks  into  my  house  to  steal,  and  then  tries 
to  murder  me  because  I  resent  his  attempt !  " 

During  all  this  time  I  had  been  steadily  learning 
my  business,  until  I  had  advanced  from  striking, 
to  the  forge,  and  could  do  as  good  a  piece  of 
work,  so  Grim  declared,  as  "  any  young  feller  in 
the  business." 

My  wages  were  also  advanced ;  and  it  was  a 
happy  day  when  I  was  able  to  send  my  poor 
mother  fifty  dollars,  with  the  promise  of  a  small 
sum  thereafter  each  month.  This  I  did  through 
William  Reed,  whom  I  hunted  up  a  few  weeks 
after  my  arrival  in  Spindleville  ;  for  it  was  deemed 
best  not  to  let  my  mother  know  where  I  was  at 
work. 

Thus  I  worked  on  in  that  happy  contentment 
that  comes  from  heathful  toil  and  congenial  sur- 
roundings. 

At  last  great  events,  in  part  to  me  unexpected, 
broke  up  the  pleasant  tranquillity  of  my  life,  and 
forced  it  into  broader  and  stormier  channels. 


THE  FIRST  CALL   TO  ARMS.  29 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE   FIRST   CALL   TO   ARMS. 

Those  were  exciting  times.  Important  national 
events  followed  fast  after  one  another.  The  ex- 
asperating- language  and  action  of  Southern  fire- 
eaters  and  of  Northern  abolitionists,  the  secession 
of  South  Carolina,  the  talked-of  plot  to  assassinate 
the  new  president  on  his  way  to  the  national 
capital,  his  arrival  in  Washington,  and  his  patri- 
otic, wise,  and  moderate  inaugural  address,  —  all 
followed  in  rapid  succession. 

"Yes,  that's  it  exactly,"  said  Grim,  after  read- 
ing the  address.  "  Listen  to  this,  Father  Cran- 
dall :  — 

'''In  your  hands  and  not  in  mine,  my  dissatisfied 
fellow-citizens,  are  the  momentous  issues  of  civil  war. 
The  government  will  not  assail  you.  You  can  have 
no  conflict  without  you  yourselves  being  the  aggres- 
sors. You  have  no  oath  registered  in  heaven  to  de- 
stroy the  government,  while  I  have  a  most  solemn 
one  to  preserve,  protect,  and  defend  it.  T  am  loath  to 
close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We  must 
not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained 
them,  it  must  not  break  our  bonds  of  affection.     The 


30  JACK  ALDEN. 

mystic  cord  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battle- 
field and  patriot  grave,  to  every  living  heart  and 
hearthstone  all  over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell 
the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when  touched,  as  they  surely 
will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  natures.'  " 

Crandall,  who  had  listened  thoughtfully,  looked 
up  with  interest,  and  said,  while  Grim  was  folding 
the  paper,  "I'd  like  to  read  the  whole  of  it." 
Then,  after  reading,  he  remarked,  "  It's  good, 
practical  common-sense  ;  no  bluster  in  it.  Kinder 
seems  to  me  Abe  Lincoln's  got  more  sense  than  all 
the  rest  of  you  Black  Republicans  put  together." 

I  was  working  at  the  forge  one  cold,  crisp  morn- 
ing in  March,  1861.  Grim  had  been  unusually 
thoughtful  and  silent  that  morning^  althouo-h  it  is 
never  common  for  men  of  his  mould  to  talk  at 
their  work.  We  had  just  been  hammering  at  a 
huge  piece  of  welding ;  and  he  stood  at  the  anvil 
waiting  for  it  to  reheat,  the  great  beads  of  sweat 
standing  on  his  broad,  thoughtful  brow,  his  keen 
gray  eyes  non-focussed  in  thoughtful  abstraction. 
Crandall  was  working  near  by,  occasionally  cast- 
ing glances  at  Grim  from  under  his  shaggy,  pro- 
jecting eyebrows. 

Just  then  a  customer  came  in  hurriedly  with  a  job, 
which  Grim  turned  over  to  his  foreman,  and  then  in 
a  still  more  abstracted  manner  resumed  work  at  the 
anvil.  Clink  1  Clank  !  Clink  !  Clank !  How  musi- 
cally the  iron  rang  out  in  answer  to  the  hammers, 
and  what  a  healthful  odor  came  from  the  forgre  ! 


THE  FIRST  CALL   TO  ARMS.  31 

The  iron  was  welded.  Crandall  came  up  and 
looked  at  the  work  with  a  critical  eye  as  we  re- 
moved our  aprons  preparatory  to  washing  for 
dinner. 

"  It's  a  good  job,  Grim  !  But  it  is  a  wonder  ; 
for  your  wits  have  been  wool-gathering  all  the 
morning !  I've  known  you  ever  since  you  first 
came  down  here  from  New  Hampshire  to  learn 
your  trade,  eleven  years  ago  ;  and  when  I  see  you 
in  one  of  them  fits,  I  always  expect  some  new 
move.  It's  a  pity,  too,  for  you've  got  the  best 
business  of  any  blacksmith  in  town.  I  expected 
to  see  you  sober  down,  kinder  contented-like,  after 
yer  married  my  daughter  Mary.  There  ain't  any 
wool  in  her  wits  !  " 

"  Want  ter  buy  this  business  ?  "  Grim  threw 
out  the  query  in  gruff  tones,  turning  sharply  on 
the  speaker;  then  continuing,  "I'm  ready  ter  sell." 

"  See  here,  Grim  !  "  exclaimed  Crandall,  "  what 
does  all  this  mean  ?  "  Then  after  a  pause  resumed, 
in  answer  to  the  other  question,  "  No,  I  don't  want 
ter  buy ;  I've  got  a  purty  good  head  for  work,  but  it 
isn't  much  for  business.  You're  the  man  for  that, 
Grim ;  and  it's  kinder  a  pity  you  can't  stick  to  it." 

"  Listen  to  this,"  said  Grim,  taking  a  newspaper 
from  the  forge-shelf,  "  it's  an  order  from  Gover- 
nor Andrew  in  this  morning's  Journal.  Guess  you 
ain't  read  it  ?  "  And  Grim  read  an  order,  the  sub- 
stance of  which  was,  that  each  commander  of  the 
militia,  who  were  uniformed  and  armed  with   the 


32  JACK  ALDEN. 

latest  pattern  of  Springfield  rifles,  was  to  inspect 
his  company ;  and  all  enlisted  men  who,  from  dis- 
ability, business,  or  other  causes,  did  not  wish  to 
respond  to  a  call  from  the  president  to  "protect 
property  and  enforce  the  laws,"  should  be  dis- 
charged, and  the  ranks  recruited  to  their  maxi- 
mum strength  by  those  willing  to  comply  with 
this  requirement. 

"  Hum  !  firebrands  !  "  With  this  ejaculation 
Crandall  turned  away  with  something  like  a  scowl 
on  his  overhanging  brow ;  then  sharply  adding, 
"  Them  abolitionists  !  " 

Grim  folded  his  paper,  washed,  put  on  his  coat ; 
and,  as  we  walked  along  together,  said,  as  if  in 
continuation  of  his  thoughts,  "  Didn't  you  say 
you  would  like  to  join  the  militia,  Alden  ?  " 

"Yes,"  I  responded  ;  "but  I  ain't  old  enough." 

"  Hum  !  not  seventeen  ?  You  look  nineteen  or 
twenty."  Then,  after  a  pause.  Grim  continued, 
"How  old  are  you?"  —  "Sixteen,  most  seven- 
teen."—  "  Pretty  sizable  feller.  I  guess  you  will 
pass.  What  say?  Will  yer  try  it?  1  kinder 
want  you  ter  go  if  I  do." 

The  result  was,  that  when  evening  came  I  went 
to  the  armory,  and  was  enrolled  ;  and  I  am  not  sure 
when  asked  my  age  that  I  did  not  allow  Grim  to 
answer  for  me. 

After  this  I  began  drilling  evenings,  and  soon 
knew  as  much  of  the  manual  of  arms  and  com- 
pany movements  as  the  majority  of  the  men. 


THE  FIRST  CALL   TO  ARMS.  33 

Not  long  after  this,  about  the  first  of  April, 
1861,  Grim  sat  reading  his  newspaper,  while  I  was 
reading  Abbott's  "  History  of  Napoleon."  My  im- 
agination was  all  aglow  with  its  rose-colored  de- 
scription of  war,  when  a  member  of  our  company 
brought  a  letter  for  Grim.  He  read  it,  then  looked 
across  the  table  at  his  wife,  and  said,  "  Mary,  the 
field  and  staff  officers  of  the  Sixth  met  at  the 
American  House  in  Lowell  last  evening,  and  ten- 
dered their  services  to  the  government.  I  suppose 
we  are  likely  to  be  called  out  at  any  time.  I  think 
father  Crandall  will  tend  to  the  business  if  I'm 
gone  a  while." 

The  little  woman  turned  her  face  to  him  ;  and 
tears  stood  in  her  eyes  as  she  lovingly  looked  at 
her  stalwart  husband,  saying,  ^  You  know  best, 
Henry.  But  I  was  in  hopes  you  cared  enough 
for  me  to  want'er  stay  at  home." 

Grim  bit  liis  lip,  and  a  lump  rose  in  his  throat, 
as  he  said,  "  God  knows  I  care  for  you,  Mary  ! 
But  you  wouldn't  have  me  show  the  white  feather, 
if  my  regiment  should  be  called  out,  would  you?  " 

"No,"  said  the  young  wife;  "I  dun  know  as  I 
should.  Y'  couldn't  be  a  coward  if  y'  should 
try,  Henry." 

"Well,"  said  Grim  musingly,  as  he  put  on  his 
coat  to  go  down  to  the  armory,  "perhaps  it  will  all 
blow  over;  kinder  hope  so."  That  night  when  we 
arrived  there,  and  the  order  was  read,  all  present 
were  in  favor  of  going  whenever  we  should  be 
called  out. 


34  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  Consider  yourselves  ready,  then,"  said  Grim, 
looking  at  the  young  fellows  gathered  around  him, 
"  to  respond  to  the  tap  of  the  drum.  There's  been 
talk  enough.  This  means  something  besides  talk. 
It  may. mean  fighting  !  " 

On  our  way  home  Grim  said,  after  a  thoughtful 
silence,  "  This'll  give  them  that  hev  talked  a  chance 
to  back  it  up  with  courage  and  muscle,  I  guess. 
I'm  sick  of  dilly-dallying.  Speeches  don't  amount 
to  a  snap  of  my  finger !  " 

"  You  don't  imagine,"  said  Crandall,  when  some, 
thing  like  this  was  said  in  the  shop  tlie  next 
morning,  "  there'll  be  anything  hut  talk  ?  " 

"  I  dun  know,"  said  Grim,  pausing  in  his  work, 
with  a  far-away  look  of  abstraction  in  his  eyes. 
Then  he  began  pounding  furiously,  as  if  he  had  the 
Southern  Confederacy  on  the  anvil,  saying,  "  If 
them  Southern  brethren  of  our'n  push  us  too  fur,  I 
ain't  a-goin'  to  sa}^  it's  best  to  back  down,  though  !  " 

The  crisis  came  at  last. 

On  the  13th  of  April,  1861,  while  on  our  way 
to  the  shop,  our  attention  was  arrested  by  a  huge 
bulletin-board,  on  which,  in  large  head-lines,  was 
the  following :  — 

WAR   INAUGURATED    BY   THE 

SOUTHERN     CONFEDERACY ! 

FORT     SUMTER     ATTACKED     AND     TAKIiN     BY     THE     REBELS, 

AFTER   A   TERRIBLE    BOMBARDMENT   !   !   ! 

MAJOR    ANDERSON    AND    HIS    WHOLE    COMMAND 

PRISONERS   OF   WAR  !   ! 


THE   FIRST  CALL    TO  ARMS.  3o 

We  were  too  much  excited  to  think  of  work. 
Crowds  were  gathered  around  the  bulletin-boards ; 
and  when  the  newsboys  began  crying  the  Boston 
papers  on  the  streets,  there  was  intense  excite- 
ment, and  an  eagerness  to  get  the  news  prevailed. 

The  Carolinians  had  dared  the  first  shot  to  "  fire 
the  Southern  heart ; "  but  they  had  also  ignited 
the  Northern  heart  (so  slow  to  wrath)  as  a  result 
of  that  unjustifiable  bombardment  of  a  national 
fortress. 

The  change  from  apathy  to  indignation  was  a 
noticeable  feature  of  the  hour.  INIen  who  for 
months  had  been  bitterly  opposed  to  the  adminis- 
tration, turned  squarely  around,  and  were  now 
bitter  in  their  denunciation  of  the  rebels  and  their 
attack  on  Fort  Sumter. 

As  we  went  down  the  street  on  our  way  to  the 
shop,  we  saw  little  groups  of  men  on  the  sidewalk 
and  in  the  doorways,  gravely  discussing  the  situ- 
ation. The  general  sentiment  seemed  to  be,  "The 
Southerners  have  gone  too  far  this  time.  We 
must  punish  them  in  some  wa}^,  so  they  will  re- 
spect the  law." 

When  we  reached  the  shop  we  found  Crandall 
earnestly  at  work.  Grim  read  the  news  to  him  as 
he  stood  at  his  anvil.  As  the  full  import  of  the 
news  struck  him,  he  stopped  work,  knit  his  brow 
thoughtfully,  chewed  solemnly  at  his  quid  of 
tobacco,  then  deliberately  took  off  his  leather 
apron,  and,  while    washing  his  hands  at  the   tub, 


36  JACK  ALDEN. 

said,  "  Boys,  I've  always  been  in  favor  of  giving 
the  South  fair  play,  but  they've  gone  too  far  this 
time  !  We  must  make  them  understand  that  they 
can't  fire  on  the  American  flag  without  getting 
into  trouble !  We  must  make  them  take  a  back 
seat."  He  enlisted  in  the  Sixth  Militia  that  day, 
and  never  put  on  his  blacksmith  apron  again  until 
the  Rebellion  was  ended. 

A  short  time  after  this,  while  we  were  drillincr 
at  the  armory,  we  got  the  president's  proclamation, 
calling  for  seventy-five  thousand  men.  Grim  read 
it  aloud.  How  our  hearts  thrilled  at  its  patriotic 
tone  I  sliall  not  forget  if  I  live  another  fifty 
years : — 

"Whereas  the  laws  of  the  United  States  are  ob- 
structed by  a  combination  too  powerful  to  be  sup- 
pressed by  ordinary  judicial  proceedings  ;  therefore, 
I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in  me 
vested  by  the  Constitution  and  the  law,  have  thought 
it  fit  to  call  forth,  and  do  call  forth,  the  militia  of 
the  several  States  of  the  Union,  to  the  aggregate 
number  of  seventy-five  thoiisand,  in  order  to  suppress 
said  combination.  I  appeal  to  all  loyal  citizens,  to 
favor,  facilitate,  and  to  aid  this  effort  to  maintain  the 
honor,  the  integrity,  and  existence  of  our  National 
Union,  and  the  perpetuity  of  popular  government, 
and  to  redress  wrongs  already  too  long  endured." 

This  call  to  arms  seemed  to  strike  the  keynote 
of  moderation  and  good  sense  which,  amid  all  the 
terrible  discords  of  civil  war,  sounded  strong  and 


THE  FIRST  CALL    TO  ARMS.  37 

clear  above  the  tumult  of  rebellion  against  the 
Constitution  and  the  law. 

After  reading  it,  Grim  said.  "•  That's  an  argu- 
ment as  well  as  a  call  for  men." 

"  Yes,"  said  Crandall ;  "  it's  calm  and  clear  as  a 
mill-pond,  and  strong  as  if  double-bolted.  It 
shows  we  are  right ;  we  are  simply  upholding  the 
law,  and  mustn't  back  down  !  " 

It  was  the  16th  of  April  when  this  first  call  to 
arms  was  read,  and  we  of  the  Sixth  Regiment 
were  expecting  to  be  ordered  out  at  any  hour. 

A  little  past  four  o'clock  that  afternoon  (the 
16th)  we  left  the  shop  to  go  up  town,  when  we 
encountered  Crandall  coming  towards  us,  exclaim- 
ing excitedly  as  he  reached  us,  "  We're  ordered 
out !  Here's  a  despatch  !  I'm  on  my  way  to 
notify  the  captain  and  other  officers !  "  Grim 
said  to  me,  "  Hold  on  a  minute  ;  I  must  go  and 
tell  my  wife." 

When  he  rejoined  me  we  went  to  the  armory 
together,  unlocked  the  door,  ran  up  the  national 
flag,  beat  the  long  roll  as  well  as  we  could,  put 
on  our  uniforms,  and  were  ready  to  march  at  five 
p.  M.  This  roused  the  town,  of  course,  and  the 
people  came  flocking  to  the  armory  to  learn  what 
it  meant. 

We  left  town  next  morning  on  the  eight  o'clock 
train  for  Lowell,  where  we  joined  the  other  com- 
panies of  the  Sixth,  making  eight  companies  in 
all.     We  proceeded  by  rail  to   Boston,  where  we 


38  JACK  ALDEN. 

arrived  about  noon.  Here,  on  the  17th,  we  went 
to  the  State  House,  and  drew  overcoats  and  got 
our  colors. 

Three  companies,  one  from  Boston,  two  more 
from  Worcester  and  Stoneham,  joined  us,  making 
in  all  eleven  companies,  to  which  was  added  a 
band.  There  were  in  all  about  seven  hundred 
men,  commanded  by  Colonel  E.  T.  Jones.  (The 
lieutenant-colonel  was  an  old  man,  and  did  not 
go  with  us.)  Major  Benj.  F.  Watson,  editor  of  a 
Douglass  Democratic  newspaper,  took  his  place, 
and  was  very  popular  with  the  boys. 

We  left  Boston  at  seven  o'clock  that  night, 
with  orders  from  Governor  Andrew  to  report  to 
the  War  Department  at  Washington. 

We  went  all  the  way  by  rail,  and  awoke  the 
citizens  with  our  music  on  our  arrival  at  New 
York  in  the  morning  of  the  next  day.  Among 
the  members  of  the  band  I  saw  a  young  fellow 
who,  when  the  music  had  at  one  time  ceased, 
still  industriously  pumped  hideous  sounds  from  a 
big  trombone.  It  put  me  so  much  in  mind  of  Add's 
performance  on  that  instrument,  that  I  laughed. 

"  What,"  said  Sergeant  Grim,  "  is  so  funny. 
Jack?"  So  I  told  him  about  Add,  of  his  leav- 
ing his  place  on  account  of  his  trombone,  and 
also  of  the  concert  he  had  entertained  me  with 
the  morning  I  left  him  in  Waterbridge.  Grim 
laughingly  said,  "  We  ought  t'  have  him  with  us 
to  scare  the  rebs." 


THE   FIRST  CALL    TO  ARMS.  39 

One-half  of  the  regiment,  including  my  com- 
pany, went  to  the  Astor  House  that  morning,  and 
the  other  half  to  the  Metropolitan  Hotel.  We 
stacked  arms  in  the  lobby  of  the  Astor,  and  there 
took  breakfast ;  and  after  this,  formed  in  line  and 
marched  down  Broadway. 

Great  excitement  prevailed  in  the  city  ;  banners 
were  waving  everywhere,  and  the  crowd  was  so 
dense  that  we  had  to  push  our  way  through  it. 

On  the  morning  of  the  18th  we  arrived  in 
Philadelphia,  and  left  on  the  morning  of  the 
19th  for  Baltimore. 


40  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE   SIXTH    IN   BALTIMOEE. 

About  an  hour  before  our  arrival  in  Baltimore, 
the  captain  of  our  company  came  into  our  car,  say- 
ing he  had  just  been  to  see  the  colonel,  and  then 
added,  "  The  orders  are,  that  in  marching  through 
Baltimore,  every  man  is  to  keep  his  face  square 
to  the  front,  and  take  no  notice  of  anything  said 
to  him." 

"  That  means,"  said  Sergeant  Grim  interroga- 
tivel}'',  "  that  if  they  sass  us,  we  are  not  to  sass 
back?" 

"Exactly,"  said  the  captain,  nodding  and  smil- 
ing ;  "  as  near  that  as  anything.  You  are  not  to 
resent  any  kind  of  talk  coming  from  citizens, 
no  matter  what  they  say,  but  march  square  to 
the  front." 

Ammunition,  ten  rounds  to  each  man,  was  then 
distributed  to  us,  our  captain  at  the  same  time  re- 
marking that  there  would  probably  be  no  trouble, 
as  the  cars  were  to  be  drawn  by  horses  across 
the  city  to  the  Camden-street  Station. 

On  our  arrival  in  Baltimore,  we  found  a  crowd 
of  four  hundred  or  five  hundred  people  congre- 


THE   SIXTH  IN  BALTIMORE.  41 

gated  at  the  railway  station,  many  of  them 
seeming  only  interested  spectators  of  our  arrival, 
mere  lookers-on  ;  while  others  called  us  villains 
and  abolitionists,  and  shook  their  fists  at  us. 
Horses  were  at  once  attached  to  the  cars,  con- 
taining seven  companies,  together  with  the  field 
and  staff  officers ;  and  these  were  at  once  drawn 
to  the  station,  across  the  city.  The  cars  contain- 
ing companies  C,  D,  I,  and  L  were  left  behind. 

Sergeant  Grim  threw  up  the  window,  saying, 
"Le's  have  some  air!" 

The  crowd  had  meanwhile  continued  steadily 
to  gather ;  and,  with  a  gesture  of  contempt  toward 
them.  Grim  said,  "  Them  fellows  are  as  chuck  full 
of  cussedness  as  they  can  hold  !  " 

"  The  regimental  band  is  in  one  of  the  back 
cars,"  said  •  one  of  the  men.  "  I  wonder  they 
don't  play  something  lively." 

I  sat  in  the  seat  with  Grim  ;  and,  as  the  window 
was  raised,  I  could  hear  as  well  as  see  what  had 
now  become  a  mob  of  men.  Some  of  them  shook 
their  fists  at  us,  calling  us,  "  Yankee  villains  !  " 
"white  nio-o-ers!"  and  other  vile  names. 

"See  'em,"  said  Grim;  "they're  itching  to  get 
hold  of  us.  They'd  skin  us  alive  if  they  could. 
Them  fellows  feel  wicked  all  through." 

A  villanous-looking  bully  here'  came  up  to  the 
open  window,  uttered  a  fierce  imprecation,  glared 
at  us  angrily,  and  finally  spat  tobacco  juice 
upon  us. 


42  JACK  ALDEN. 

Private  Crandall,  who  had  at  this  time  come  to 
our  seat,  angrily  drew  back  to  strike  him,  when 
Grim  arrested  his  arm,  saying,  "'Gainst  orders, 
father  Crandall,"  and  then  shut  the  window. 

In  about  twenty  minutes  orders  came  to  leave 
the  cars  and  fall  into  line.  This  we  did  while  the 
howling  mob  was  cursing  and  threatening  us. 

The  officers  held  a  hurried  consultation.  Cap- 
tain FoUansbee  took  command,  wheeled  the  men 
into  column  of  sections,  the  crowd  all  this  time 
pfrowing-  more  and  more  excited  and  violent  in 
their  language  and  gestures. 

"We're  goin'  to  hev  trouble  here,"  said  Cran- 
dall, his  shaggy  brows  scowling  down  over  his 
eyes,  as  he  bit  solemnly  into  a  huge  plug  of 
tobacco. 

We  began  our  march,  the  crowd  following  with 
exasperating  jeers,  curses,  and  insults.  As  soon 
as  the  order  was  given,  the  same  ruffian  who  had 
looked  in  at  our  windows  threw  himself  squarely 
in  front  of  our  column,  bearing  a  rebel  flag  at- 
tached to  a  rude  pole,  as  if  to  stop  its  advance.  I 
saw  our  men  wrest  it  from  him ;  and  in  the  strug- 
gle for  its  possession  it  dropped  to  the  ground,  and 
was  trampled  as  we  passed  over  it. 

The  police  all  this  while  seemed  to  be  idle 
spectators.  One  exception,  however,  occurred 
when  one  of  them,  who  had  been  requested  to 
show  us  (or  lead)  the  way  across  the  city,  directed 
us  by  saying,  "  Keep  the  railroad-track,"  and  was 


Threw  himself  squarely  in  front  of  our  column  bearing 
a  rebel  Hag." 

—  Page  42. 


THE  SIXTH  IN  BALTIMORE.  43 

immediately  knocked  down  with  a  stone  thrown 
by  some  one  in  the  mob. 

On  turning  into  Pratt  Street,  shortly  after  leav- 
ing the  station,  the  mob  began  to  throw  bricks 
and  stones,  one  of  which  struck  me  on  the  side 
of  the  head  just  as  I  was  turning  the  corner.  It 
stasfsrered  and  confused  me,  so  that  if  Crandall 
and  Grim,  who  were  by  my  side,  had  not  held  me 
up,  I  should  have  dropped  in  the  street. 

Grim  said  in  an  undertone,  and  with  a  sar- 
castic grin,  "  Sumthin'  of  a  contrast  to  marchin' 

through   New  York,  boys,  them  devils  !     I 

wish  the  captain  would  give  orders  to  fire !  " 

Still  we  marched  with  our  faces  square  to  the 
front.  My  heart  was  throbbing  like  drum-beats, 
and  a  lump  constantly  rose  in  my  throat.  The 
crowd  soon  became  still  more  furious.  Shouts, 
howls,  pistol-shots,  stones,  and  bricks  were  hurled 
at  us  from  every  side.  I  saw  some  of  our  men 
lying  wounded  in  the  street,  with  yellow-white 
faces  and  ugly  blotches  of  blood  on  them,  turned 
up  to  the  sky. 

At  last,  about  a  third  of  a  mile  from  our  start- 
ing-point, we  came  to  a  canal.  The  bridge  across 
it  had  been  torn  up  ;  its  planks,  together  with 
barrels  and  boxes,  were  piled  up  on  it  in  such  a 
manner  as  for  a  time  to  stop  our  advance. 

For  some  reason  the  mob  did  not  fire  on  us  here; 
and  by  stepping  from  one  timber  to  another,  and 
levelling  the    barricade    as  much   as  possible,   we 


44  JACK  ALDEN. 

finally  got  across.  The  mob  quickly  followed  us 
up  again,  firing  quite  rapidly,  and  howling  like 
fiends. 

"  Ain't  they  wadin'  in  considerable  deep  ?  "  said 
Crandall  coolly,  but  with  suppressed  wrath. 

"  Look  at  them  fellows  up  there  in  the  third 
story  of  that  block,"  said  Crandall  in  a  low  but 
sharp  tone.  "  Look !  "  I  glanced  upward,  and 
saw  three  or  four  men  with  muskets  pointing 
downward,  as  if  to  shoot. 

Crandall  brought  up  his  Springfield  rifle,  when 
Grim  seized  his  arm,  saying,  '^  Stop  it !  Wait  for 
orders! "  The  men  at  the  window  fired.  Two  of 
our  men  dropped  ;  and  then  the  order  came,  "  Fire 
at  will !  Fire  !  "  Grim  at  this  command  brouofht 
his  musket  quickly  to  his  face ;  and  at  its  sharp 
report,  one  of  the  ruffians,  with  a  crash  that  made 
my  heart  jump,  tumbled  mangled  on  the  sidewalk. 
Then  the  men  began  firing  rapidly,  not  at  random, 
but  coolly,  at  those  who  were  most  conspicuous  in 
the  assault  on  us. 

At  our  first  fire  the  crowd  had  fallen  back  ;  and 
as  the  smoke  thinned  we  saw  dead  and  wounded 
men  occupying  the  space  thus  cleared.  Then  the 
furious  mob  closed  in  on  us  once  more,  howl- 
ing and  cursing  with  redoubled  fury,  exclaiming, 
"  We've  got  graves  dug  for  all  of  you  Yanks  ! " 
"  We'll  manure  the  soil  here  with  you,  you  white 
Yankee  niggers  !  "  "  We'll  learn  y'  to  come 
down  here  !  " 


THE  SIXTH  IN  BALTIMORE.  45 

"  Oh,  shut  up ! "  said  Grim,  with  an  impreca- 
tion; for  he  was  now  angry  all  through.  A  ruf- 
fian seized  me  by  the  collar  at  this  time,  and 
would  have  pulled  me  from  the  ranks ;  but  Cran- 
dall  struck  him  with  his  club-like  blacksmith  fist, 
and  the  ruffian,  with  the  blood  spurting  from  his 
nose,  fell  to  the  pavement.  A  number  of  similar 
attempts  to  club  our  men  were  made  here.  We, 
in  return,  aimed,  as  a  general  thing,  only  on  those 
whom  we  saw  shooting  or  clubbing  our  men. 

The  companies  had  followed  the  railroad-track 
until  the  head  of  the  column  came  to  a  switch. 
At  it  we  halted  for  a  moment.  We  heard  some 
of  the  mob  who  were  stationed  here  threatening 
and  cursing,  apparently  in  an  attempt  to  prevent 
us  from  turning  into  a  side  street.  I  afterwards 
learned  that  Captain  Follansbee  had  been  unde- 
cided which  way  to  go,  until  ihe  threats  of  these 
men  to  kill  him  if  he  turned  down  that  way, 
showed  him  that  the  right  way  to  the  station  was 
in  that  direction. 

The  mob  still  kept  up  their  attack  on  us,  Avith 
pistols,  muskets,  stones,  bricks,  and  lumps  of  coal 
from  a  coal-yard  near  by  ;  the  crowd  hooting,  yell- 
ing, and  calling  us  all  the  foul  names  they  could 
invent. 

Our  column  still  moved  on,  reached  the  cars, 
got  hurriedly  on  the  train,  and  was  soon  moving 
away. 

I  was  not  so  fortunate  as  to  reach  either  station 


46  JACK  ALDE?^. 

or  train.  Just  as  I  saw  our  men  at  the  head  of  the 
column  getting  on  the  cars,  I  fell.  I  remember 
thinking  that  my  foot  had  tripped ;  then  I  was 
dimly  conscious  of  being  dragged  into  an  alleyway 
or  side  street,  and  knew  no  more  until  I  found 
myself  in  bed  in  a  strange  place. 

I  was  in  the  confused  condition  of  one  who 
awakes  after  a  profound  slumber,  unable  to  recog- 
nize time,  surroundings,  or  that  which  had  pre- 
ceded his  going  to  sleep. 

"Where  am  I?"  I  inquired.  "Where  are  the 
boys?" 

A  girl  about  three  years  older  than  myself 
stepped  lightly  to  the  bed,  and,  placing  her  cool 
hand  on  my  throbbing  head,  said,  "  You  are 
among  friends.  Union  people,  and  father  says 
that  you  must  lie  still." 

I  tried  to  rise,  sjvying,  "  But  I  must  get  away 
with  the  regiment." 

"  You  can't ;  they've  been  gone  for  hours.  You 
must  lie  perfectly  still,  or  you  will  get  the  band- 
ages off,"  and  she  coolly  turned  back  the  clothes 
at  the  foot  of  the  bed  and  proceeded  to  inspect 
something  there,  which  thing  I  soon  found  to 
be  connected  with  a  terrible  pain  in  one  of  my 
legs. 

"  I'm  awful  thirsty  !  "  I  exclaimed.  She  gave 
me  a  cooling  drink  and  said,  "  Lie  still."  The 
girl's  manner  was  one  of  mingled  assurance  and 
firmness,  and  I  gazed  at  her  in  astonishment. 


THE  SIXTH  IN  BALTIMORE.  47 

"What,"  I  asked,  "does  it  all  mean?  How 
did  I  come  here  ?  ' ' 

"  You  were  wounded  and  brought  in  here  by 
good  Union  people  ;  my  father's  a  Northern  man ; 
I  am  your  nurse  ;  you  are  my  first  case ;  and  you 
must  keep  very  quiet."  This  last  was  said  with 
an  air  of  great  firmness ;  and,  as  I  wonderingly 
watched  her  moving  lightly  around  the  room,  I 
fell  into  a  deep  sleep. 

I  was  awakened  some  hours  after  by  a  light  rap 
at  the  door,  and  a  moment  afterward  a  gentleman 
walked  into  the  room.  I  knew  at  once  that  he 
was  a  doctor,  by  that  indefinable  manner  of  cheer- 
fulness and  assurance  that  men  of  that  profession 
have. 

Addressing  my  nurse,  he  said,  "  How's  your 
patient,  May?  Hum,  —  been  asleep?  That's 
good." 

The  doctor  was  a  man  of  medium  size,  and 
quick  in  his  motions.  His  distinguishing  mark 
was  a  huge  shock  of  sandy  hair  and  whiskers, 
with  hazel  or  almost  black  eyes.  This  contrast 
of  his  light  bristly  hair  with  his  dark  eyes  gave 
him  an  almost  ferocious  look,  that  was,  however, 
dispelled  at  once  on  hearing  his  voice,  which, 
though  deep,  was  very  pleasantly  modulated. 
His  tones  were  those  of  a  man  who  commanded 
but  never  assumed ;  who  expected  obedience,  yet 
did  not  fume  if  it  was  not  accorded  him. 

He  came  to  my  side,  looked  at  me,  addressed 


48  JACK  ALDEN. 

a  few  words  to  the  girl,  unrolled  the  handage 
f]om  my  leg,  restored  it,  and  then  said,  "  Well, 
young  man,  how  do  you  feel  ? " 

"  Rather  bad,  doctor ;  will  you  please  tell  me 
how  I  came  here  ?  " 

"You  came,"  said  the  doctor,  with  a  grim 
smile,  "  feet  first.  You  were  brought  here.  A 
friend  of  yours  was  dodging  around,  trying  to 
get  to  the  depot.  He  said  he  was  doing  the 
best  he  knew  how  to  mind  his  own  business 
when  he  saw  you  shot  down ;  dragged  you  out 
of  the  way ;  happened  to  hit  on  me  for  a  doctor ; 
some  Union  man  told  him  I  was  from  the  North, 
I  believe.  We  brought  you  here,  and  put  you 
under  boss  May,"  smiling  and  nodding  towards 
the  girl. 

"  Who,"  I  asked,  "  was  this  friend  of  mine  ?  " 

"One  of  your  band;  he  had  slipped  on  a  pair 
of  overalls,  an  old  blouse  and  a  soft  hat,  left  his 
instrument  in  a  shop,  and  was  skulking  around 
trying  to  reach  the  train  when  he  saw  you  shot 
down." 

"  It's  all  a  mystery  to  me,"  I  said,  "  I  don't 
know  a  soul  in  the  band." 

"  I  fear  you've  talked  too  much  already,"  inter- 
rupted the  girl,  looking  toward  her  father.  "  Rest 
after  such  a  shock  is  the  best  thing  for  you.  Your 
nervous  shock,  my  father  says,  is  worse,  if  any- 
thing, than  your  wounds." 

After  the  doctor  had  left,  I  lay  still  looking  at 


THE  SIXTH  IN  BALTIMORE.  49 

the  wall,  and  at  the  girl  sitting  by  the  window. 
The  light  had  begun  to  fade  away  into  twilight, 
Avith  no  sound  in  the  house  except  the  ticking 
of  a  clock  in  the  hallway,  when  she  said,  ^  Here 
comes  your  friend."  Soon  I  heard  a  step  in  the 
hall,  and  when  she  opened  the  door  there  appeared 
the  ruddy,  laughing  face  of  Add. 

I  was  never  more  surprised  or  glad  to  see  any 
one.     He  soon  told  me  the  whole  story. 

"The  band,"  said  Add,  "was  in  the  rear  car; 
of  course  we  couldn't  shoot  anything  but  wind 
at  them  fellows.  So  we  just  got  away  the  best 
we  could.  The  mob  had  gone  howling  after  you 
so  we  didn't  have  so  much  trouble  in  mindin' 
our  own  business  as  the  rest  of  you  did." 

"What  became  of  the    rest  of  the  band?" 

"  Skulking  around  the  city  somewhere ;  most 
of  'em  have  bouofht  or  borrowed  citizen's  clothes." 

He  told  me  he  had  tried  to  reach  the  car  in 
"overalls"  and  a  soft  hat  which  he  had  bought  of  a 
Jew,  and  had  then  followed  the  regiment  with  the 
intention  of  sfcttino-  aboard  the  train  with  them. 

"  I  was  just  going  to  make  my  final  rush  for  the 
cars,"  said  Add,  "  when  I  recognized  you,  and  in  a 
moment  more  you  were  down.  I  know  the  very 
house  you  were  shot  from.  You  see  they  thought 
I  was  one  of  the  mob.  Then  I  got  a  feller  to  help 
me  carry  you.  Then  the  doctor  come  along,  and 
over  in  the  drug-store  they  told  me  he  was  a 
Northern  man ;  and  then  we  had  you  brought  in 


50  JACK  ALDEN. 

here.  That's  the  whole  business,  without  black- 
ball or  burnishing,"  said  Add,  with  one  of  his 
droll  twinkling  expressions,  which  might  be  called 
a  wink. 

"  Lost  my  instrument,  too  ;  softest  and  sweetest 
toned  one  in  Boston  ;  makes  me  so  mad  that  I 
could  tear  down  their  old  rat-trap  of  a  city ;  plague 
me  if  I  couldn't!  " 

When  I  remembered  the  tones  of  that  trombone, 
so  like  a  clap  of  thunder  pumped  through  a  coarse 
sieve,  I  laughed  almost  convulsively ;  for  Add's 
music  was  to  my  mind  extremely  ludicrous. 

I  finally  said,  "It  must  have  been  you,  Add, 
whom  I  saw  pumping  that  thing  all  alone  down 
on  Broadway  the  morning  we  left  New  York." 

Add  grinned,  Avas  a  little  provoked,  but  finally 
joined  me  in  laughing  as  he  said,  "  Some  of  them 
band  fellers  did  call  me  '  lone  thunder,'  but  you 
bet  I  can  drown  out  tlie  whole  band  with  my  trom- 
bone !  Some  of  them  chaps  are  so  envious  that 
they  got  mad  after  I  joined,  because  they  thought 
I'd  use  up  all  the  wind  in  the  band-room." 

Add  or  the  laughing  did  me  good,  and  I  could 
see  that  both  the  doctor  and  my  nurse  thought  so ; 
for  after  that  they  encouraged  him  to  visit  me 
every  day.  I  was  quite  touched  by  his  devotion  to 
me,  for  he  said  he  was  "  goin'  to  stand  by  me  until 
I  was  able  to  go  on  to  Washington ;  for,"  added 
he,  "  the  Rebs  have  burned  all  the  bridges  'tween 
here  and  Washington,  and  tain't  no  use  ter  try." 


THE   SIXTH  IN  BALTIMORE.  51 

I  learned  from  my  doctor  that  one  of  the  small 
arteries  of  my  leg  had  been  severed  by  the  bullet, 
which  had  caused  me  to  lose  much  blood  ;  and 
though  the  bone  had  been  slightly  splintered,  yet 
it  was  not  broken ;  and  there  was  some  inflamma- 
tion, but  he  hoped  to  have  me  around  again  in 
a  few  days. 

One  day,  a  week  or  two  afterward,  the  doctor 
had  been  examining  my  wound,  when  Add  re- 
sjjonded  to  some  teasing  remark  I  had  made,  by 
saying,  "  Now,  Jack  Alden,  you  shut  up  or  get 
up.  You  ain't  so  awful  sick  as  you  pretend."  It 
was  the  first  time  my  name  had  been  mentioned, 
and  the  doctor  turned  around  to  Add,  tlien  to  me 
with  a  questioning  look,  and  said,  "  Is  your  name 
John  Alden  ?  and  was  your  father's  name  the 
same  ?  " 

I  replied  that  it  was ;  and  after  some  other  an- 
swers to  his  questions  it  turned  out  that  he  and 
my  father  had  been  college  chums. 

The  doctor  was,  as  I  have  already  intimated, 
a  strong  Union  man.  I  learned  that  he  was  a 
widower,  and  that  Mary  was  his  only  daughter, 
though  he  had  a  son  older  than  she  who  was  then 
living  in  the  South. 

I  recovered  strength  rapidly ;  soon  obtained  a 
suit  of  citizen's  clothes,  and  in  a  few  weeks  was 
able,  with  the  doctor's  aid,  to  be  about,  and  thought 
of  attempting  to  rejoin  my  regiment  in  Washing- 
ton, if  I  could  get  there. 


52  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE   YANKEES    HAVE   COME. 

After  the  passage  of  the  Sixth  Massachusetts 
through  the  streets,  of  Baltimore,  railroad  com- 
munications between  Washington  and  the  North 
were  for  a  time  cut  off. 

Maryland  was  in  a  ferment.  Her  legislature 
only  awaited  a  favorable  moment  to  proclaim  its 
adherence  to  the  Southern  cause,  and  to  raise 
the  standard  of  Secession. 

For  the  weeks  during  which  I  remained  in 
Baltimore,  rebel  influences  controlled  the  city. 
Though  there  were  many  loyal  people,  they 
were  overawed  by  the  noisy  insurrectionists,  and 
Union  sentiments  were  not  freely  expressed. 

The  loj^al  but  timid  Governor  of  Maryland  had 
even  permitted  an  act  of  war,  in  the  destruction 
of  the  railroad  bridges  communicating  with  the 
national  capital.  The  authorities  of  Baltimore 
had  collected  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  organ- 
ized military  companies  to  resist  the  passage  of 
Union  troops,  seized  the  telegraph  wires,  forbid- 
den the  export  of  provisions,  and  in  other  ways 
usurped  the  functions  of  the  Federal  government 


THE    YANKEES  HAVE   COME.  53 

by  regulating  the  departure  of  vessels.  A  Con- 
federate recruiting-station  had  meanwhile  been 
opened,  and  was  in  successful  and  unmolested 
operation. 

Directly  after  these  scenes  of  mob  violence  on 
the  19th  of  April,  General  B.  F.  Butler,  on  his 
way  to  Washington  with  the  Eighth  Massachu- 
setts, finding  his  passage  to  the  capital  cut  off  in 
that  direction,  had  energetically  opened,  and  held 
open,  a  new  route  by  way  of  Annapolis. 

Wednesday,  April  the  27th,  the  Eighth  Massa- 
chusetts and  the  Seventh  New  York  (the  latter 
made  up  of  the  better  element  of  that  city) 
started  out  from  Annapolis  on  a  twenty-mile 
march,  to  open  communications  with  Annapolis 
Junction.  Tlie  mechanics  of  the  Eighth  Massa- 
chusetts patched  up  a  wrecked  locomotive  and 
a  few  dilapidated  passenger-cars,  and,  with  these 
for  their  supply,  baggage,  and  passenger  train, 
advanced  twenty  miles  to  the  Junction,  relaying 
the  track  (which  had  been  destroyed  by  the  insur- 
gents) as  they  advanced.  Maryland's  prominent 
men  meanwhile  protested  against  the  passage  of 
troops  across  the  State. 

While  this  was  taking  place,  gloom  and  un- 
certainty overhung  the  national  capital.  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  anxiously  awaited  the  arrival  of 
the  volunteers,  which  would  insure  its  security. 
The  rebel  sympathizers  and  plotters  hoped  that  the 
Confederates   would   advance  from  Virginia,  and 


54  JACK  ALDEN. 

seize  Washington  before  the  arrival  of  national 
troops.  This  uncertainty  did  not  prevent  eager 
politicians  from  besieging  President  Lincoln  for 
office  meanwhile ;  and  he  quaintly  expressed  the 
situation  by  saying,  "  I  felt  like  the  man  who  let 
lodgings  in  one  end  of  his  house  while  the  other 
end  was  on  fire." 

At  last,  on  the  22d  of  April,  the  Seventh  New 
York  arrived  in  Washington,  bringing  with  it  a 
spirit  of  enthusiastic  loyalty  which  thenceforth 
abided  at  the  national  capital  until  the  war 
ended. 

So  much  is  needful  to  be  said,  that  the  situation 
at  this  critical  period  of  our  national  affairs  may 
be  the  better  understood  by  my  young  readers. 
My  wound,  although  still  unhealed,  did  not  pre- 
vent my  getting  out  into  the  streets,  and  I  was 
fast  becoming  impatient  to  rejoin  my  regiment. 
Through  the  doctor,  I  had  procured  me  a  suit  of 
citizen's  clothes,  that  I  might  not  be  interfered 
with  by  officious  rebel  sj^mpathizers. 

On  first  going  into  the  street,  and  listening  to 
the  conversation  in  the  markets  and  shops,  I  had 
found  that  war  was  the  all-absorbing  topic  of 
conversation.  The  sympathizers  with  rebellion 
were  often  out-spoken,  though  I  soon  discovered 
that  there  was  also  a  deep  undercurrent  of  Union 
sentiment,  which,  however,  found  very  little  open 
expression. 

Among   the   mercantile   classes    there    was  dis- 


THE   YANKEES  HAVE  COME.  55 

satisfied  grumbling  about  the  loss  of  trade  because 
the  city  was  cut  off  from  communication  with 
regular  routes ;  and  this  dissatisfaction  in  time 
bore  fruit  in  Union  sentiment,  when  the  control 
of  the  city  was  assumed  by  the  Union  authorities. 

I  had  several  times,  during  my  stay  here,  pro- 
posed to  leave  Dr.  Milner's  house,  lest  I  might 
compromise  him  among  those  of  his  friends  who 
were  disunionists  ;  but  at  each  attempt  to  leave 
he  urged  me  so  pressingly  to  remain,  that  I  had 
yielded,  not  unwillingly,  to  his  wishes.  Early  in 
our  acquaintance  I  had  told  him  of  my  previous 
life,  to  which  ]\Iiss  May  listened  with  evident 
interest.  When  I  mentioned  my  work  at  shoe- 
making,  blacksmithing,  and  farming,  she  said  in 
a  tone  of  surprise,  I  thought,  "  No  one  but  negroes 
and  very  common  people  work  at  such  employ- 
ment here." 

"  Well  then,  they  must  all  be  common  people 
w^  our  way,"  I  replied;  "for  most  all  work  there. 
My  father  was  an  educated  man,  and  a  gentleman ; 
and  he  thought  every  man  should  work  at  manual 
labor  a  part  of  his  time,  for  health  as  well  as  for 
moral  effect." 

Dr.  Milner  laughed,  and  said,  "  Yes,  Miss 
May,  I  worked  at  one  time  as  a  carpenter,  — 
my  father's  business,  —  and  in  that  way  earned 
money  to  assist  in  paying  my  way  through  col- 
lege. You  see,"  said  the  doctor,  addressing  me 
half  seriously,  "  May  has  been  brought  up  in  select 


56  JACK  ALDEN. 

Baltimore  society,  and  she  can't  understand  how 
any  one  with  pretence  to  good  breeding  can  fol- 
low useful  employment  without  lowering  himself 
socially." 

At  this  I  expressed  the  natural  surprise  of  a 
New  England  boy,  by  saying,  "  I  have  never 
thought  my  work  to  be  degrading.  I  have  been 
proud  to  earn  a  living." 

"  And  it  isn't  degrading,"  said  the  doctor 
quietly.  "  It  is  the  curse  of  slave-labor  that  it 
puts  a  bane  on  useful  employment ;  and  that  is 
just  the  difference  between  the  Northern  and 
Southern  standards  of  manhood.  I  suppose,  how- 
ever, Alden,  you  look  forward  finally  to  something 
different  from  blacksmithing?  " 

I  replied  that  it  had  seemed  possible  to  build  up 
a  business  of  my  own,  and  employ  other  men  in 
the  work ;  that  it  was  true  I  should  like  a  profes- 
sion, —  would  like  to  study  law,  and  had  already 
partly  read  "  Blackstone's  Connnentaries  on  the 
English  Law,"  and  some  other  law-books;  but  I 
had  first  to  think  of  earning  a  living,  and  helping 
my  mother.  My  father  was  said  to  be  well  read 
in  the  law,  and  had  two  cousins  who  were  quite 
eminent  in  the  profession. 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  the  doctor,  nodding,  "the  Rich 
brothers ;  they  are  both  fine  lawyers.  How  would 
you  like  to  come  into  my  office  and  study  medi- 
cine ? "  And  then  after  a  pause  he  added,  "  If 
this  trouble  blows  over." 


THE   YANKEES  HAVE   COME.  67 

I  replied  that  while  it  would  please  me,  it  would 
be  a  great  expense,  and  prevent  me  from  assisting 
my  mother. 

About  the  1st  of  May  I  had  begun,  with  the  aid 
of  a  crutch,  to  take  long  walks,  sometimes  with 
Add  or  May  or  her  father.  The  doctor  en- 
couraged me  to  believe  that  I  should  be  able  to 
get  around  without  a  crutch  or  cane  in  two  or 
three  months  more. 

On  one  of  my  rambles  with  Miss  May,  I  noticed 
a  howitzer  pointing  out  of  a  second-story  window 
over  the  street  which  I  remembered  that  my  regi- 
ment had  passed  through  on  the  19th. 

"What  is  that  for?"  I  inquired,  as  I  stood 
looking  up  to  the  window.  A  fine-looking  young 
fellow,  about  nineteen  years  of  age,  here  came 
up.  May  introduced  him  as  Mr.  George  Ray- 
mond, and  put  to  him  the  question  I  had  inno- 
cently asked. 

"Those  cannon?"  said  Raymond,  with  a  gesture 
toward  the  window.  "  Why,  they  are  for  defence. 
We  intend  to  sweep  these  streets  of  any  Yankee 
regiments  that  may  attempt  to  pass  through  Balti- 
more in  the  future.  We  made  a  mistake  in  not 
doing  it  in  the  first  place."  At  the  same  time  he 
flashed  a  suspicious  glance  at  me,  and  said,  "Mary- 
land will  follow  South  Carolina  and  her  sister 
States  soon."  Then  turning  to  May,  he  said,  "  I 
heard  this  morning  that  your  brother  has  joined 
the  Washington  Battery,  and  received  a  commis- 


58  JACK  ALDEN. 

sion  as  first  lieutenant.  There  will  always  be  an 
opening  in  our  army  for  educated  men  like  him." 
There  was  in  his  manner  of  saying  this  an  assur- 
ance of  superiority  ;  and  I  was  pleased  when  May 
said,  — 

"Oh,  I  hope  it  isn't  true!  It  can't  be  that 
brother  Jimmy  has  taken  such  a  step  without 
consulting  my  father." 

"Miss  Milner,"  said  Raymond  with  a  look  of 
surprise,  "it  can't  be  that  you  sympathize  with 
those  nigger- worshipping  Yankees?'" 

May  made  no  reply,  when  Raymond,  with  an- 
other glance  of  suspicion  directly  at  me,  said, 
"  Which  side  are  you  on  Mr.  —  Mr.  Alden  ?  Do 
you  favor  the  Nortli  or  South?" 

I  had  not  learned  to  conceal  my  political  sen- 
timents, —  as  indeed  what  Northern  man  or  boy 
ever  did  ?  —  and  therefore  instantly  replied,  — 

"I  am  a  Northern  Union  man,  Mr.  Raymond." 

His  face  flushed  with  chagrin  or  anger ;  he  gave 
a  look  at  INIay  that  I  did  not  understand,  and  then, 
without  speaking  to  me  again,  he  raised  his  hat  to 
Ma}^  and  took  his  departure. 

"  He  will  make  trouble  for  us,  I  fear,"  said  May. 
"  He  belongs  to  one  of  the  best  families  in  Balti- 
more, and  they  own  a  large  number  of  servants. 
He's  a  violent  Secessionist;  and  I  have  heard  it 
intimated  that,  though  so  j^oung,  he  is  to  be  col- 
onel of  the  regiment  they  are  recruiting  here  for 
the  Confederate  army." 


THE   YANKEES  HAVE   COME.  59 

On  our  return  May  told  her  father  of  our  con- 
versation with  Raymond. 

"  I  thought  you  were  a  great  favorite  with 
Raymond,"  said  her  father;  then  to  me,  in  a  half- 
joking  manner,  "  You  see,  Raymond  attempted  or 
pretended  to  study  medicine  with  me  at  one  time ; 
but  I  always  thought  he  had  more  of  an  eye  on 
May  than  on  the  profession." 

Instead  of  replying  to  her  father.  Miss  May  said, 
"I'm  afraid  I  have  bad  news  for  you,  pajDa  ;  and  I 
don't  know  that  I  ought  to  worry  you  with  it  now, 
as  it  may  not  be  true." 

"  Well,  out  with  it !  What's  the  matter  ?  "  said 
the  doctor. 

"Raymond  says  that  brother  Jimmy  has  ac- 
cepted a  commission  in  a  Southern  regiment." 

"  No,"  said  the  doctor ;  "  I  don't  think  Jimmy 
would  take  such  a  step  without  consulting  me. 
But  he  may  get  into  it  as  thousands  of  others 
will,  thinking  that  the  trouble  will  blow  over 
without  any  fighting.  Maybe  that  young  lady 
he  wrote  you  about  has  influenced  him ;  but  I 
don't  believe  it."  Notwithstanding  this  state- 
ment, the  doctor  looked  troubled. 

I  had  a  good  opportunity  wliile  in  the  shops 
and  on  the  streets  to  hear  the  talk  of  the  people 
regarding  the  war;  and  it  was  instructive  to  ob- 
serve the  difference  between  the  Northern  and 
Southern  points  of  view. 

One  day,  while  with  the  doctor,  who  was  at  a 


60  JACK  ALDEN. 

market,  I  heard  a  young  man  say,  "  The  Yankees 
shoot  our  people  down,  and  then  talk  about  peace." 

"  They'll  find  out,  the  cowardly  Yanks,  if  they 
attempt  to  march  through  our  city  again!  See 
how  our  people  drove  them  out  of   Baltimore!" 

"Without  arms,  too,"  added  another. 

"Not  cowards,"  said  a  grave  man  about  forty 
years  of  age;  "I  reckon  it  isn't  any  use  to  call 
them  cowards.  It  took  a  right  smart  of  courage 
to  march  through  here  the  other  day,  without 
turning  right  or  left,  until  they  got  orders  to 
fire.  It  took  pluck  to  hold  their  temper.  No, 
sar!     I  believe  the  Yankees  will  fight,  sar!" 

I  could  not  refrain  from  saying,  "  That's  so,  sir. 
I  know  them  well  enough  to  know  that." 

"  What  do  you  know  about  them  ?  What's 
the  matter  with  your  leg  ?  "  Thus  interrogated  a 
rough-looking  marketman,  who  continued,  "You're 
a  white-livered  Yankee  sympathizer,  I  believe ; 
maybe  a  Yankee  yourself." 

"Maj^be  I  am,"  I  replied  hotly ;  "but  I  don't 
allow  any  rough  to  dictate  to  me,  though." 

The  doctor,  overhearing  the  altercation,  came 
up  and  took  my  arm.  "He's  all  right,"  said  the 
grave  man ;  "  Dr.  Milner's  son  is  in  our  service." 

I  learned  afterward  from  the  doctor,  that  the 
man  who  had  spoken  so  temperately  was  the  worst 
Secessionist  in  Baltimore;  and,  added  the  doctor, 
"He's  all  the  more  dangerous  because  he  appears 
so  reasonable." 


THE   YANKEES  HAVE   COME.  61 

Before  this,  the  doctor  had  received  a  letter 
from  his  son,  saying  he  had  accepted  a  commis- 
sion in  the  Washington  Battery ;  for  if  he  had 
not  done  so,  public  sentiment  would  have  put  a 
stigma  upon  him.  That  it  was  believed  in  the 
South,  however,  that  there  would  be  no  war. 

"  Well,"  said  the  doctor  meditatively,  "  it  may 
all  blow  over  soon." 

A  day  or  two  after  this  the  doctor  came  in, 
excitedly  exclaiming,  "'  Have  you  heard  the  news, 
Alden?" 

"No;  what  is  it?" 

"  This  morninCT  General  Butler  arrived  at  the 
Relay  House  (it's  only  eight  or  nine  miles  from 
here)  with  two  thousand  men.  He  has  mounted 
artillery  on  the  viaduct,  and  the  Secessionists  here 
are  in  a  great  ferment !  He  has  completely  in- 
vested the  city  on  the  north." 

This  was  on  the  5th  of  May.  It  was  about  the 
middle  of  the  month  before  we  heard  much  more 
of  General  Butler.  The  general  opinion  was  that 
he  would  not  dare  show  his   head  in  Baltimore. 

Early  one  morning,  after  a  sharp  thunder-storm, 
while  I  was  sitting  at  the  doctor's  study  window, 
I  saw  people  running  down  street  as  if  to  a  fire. 
The  office  window  was  nearly  on  a  level  with  the 
street;  and  to  some  of  the  gamins  who  were  run- 
ning forward,  I  inquired,  "What's  up?"  With- 
out turning  his  head  right  or  left,  one  of  them 
yelled  out,  "  The  Yankees  hev  come  to  town  !  " 


62  JACK  ALDEN. 

So  it  proved.  Under  cover  of  the  storm  of  the 
morning,  about  a  thousand  men  had  been  marched 
into  the  city,  had  taken  possession  of  Federal  Hill 
above  the  town,  and  had  just  sent  down  a  detach- 
ment to  disarm  the  Baltimore  rebels.  Their  arms, 
consisting  of  pikes  and  muskets,  were  seized,  piled 
on  teams ;  and  when  I  arrived  on  the  ground,  the 
police  were  using  their  clubs  freely  to  protect  the 
soldiers  from  the  Secessionists,  who  were  furious 
at  what  they  were  pleased  to  call  "an  outrage." 
Among  the  dissatisfied  people  on  the  street  I  saw 
George  Raymond,  with  a  fierce  scowl  on  his  face. 

I  went  out  with  Add  into  the  street  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  Yankee  regiment. 

"  Our  people  will  never  allow  them  to  stay 
here!"  exclaimed  a  man  near  me;  "they'll  shed 
their  last  drop  of  blood  first."  But,  notwithstand- 
ing this ;  and  similar  asserti'ons,  all  hostile  demon- 
strations ended  in  bluster.  I  found  to  my  surprise 
that  the  regiment  was  my  own,  the  Sixth  Massa- 
chusetts ! 

»  I  was  heartily  greeted  by  the  officers  and  men 
of  my  regiment,  and  was  soon  shaking  hands  with 
Crandall  and  other  acquaintances,  some  of  whom  I 
had  su]^posed  were  killed  in  the  riot. 

I  was  glad  enough  to  be  once  more  with  the 
boys,  where,  as  Add  said,  "A  feller  could  breathe 
and  speak  without  looking  over  his  shoulder,  and 
where  he  could  walk  like  a  man,  and  not  be  skulk- 
ing through  the  streets,  fearing  a  row." 


THE   YANKEES  HAVE   COME.  63 

I  left  the  doctor's  house  that  day,  put  on  my 
uniform  (which  had  been  renovated),  and  felt  like 
a  free  man,  if  not'like  a  soldier,  once  more. 

Our  camp  on  Federal  Hill  had  a  very  pleasant 
outlook  on  the  waters  of  the  little  bay  which  forms 
a  harbor  for  Baltimore.  I  introduced  my  friend 
Add  to  Grim ;  and  as  we  one  morning  sat  brighten- 
ing our  buttons,  in  reply  to  some  remark  about  the 
band.  Grim  smiled  sarcastically,  and  said,  "  Well,  a 
band  is  well  enough  for  peace,  but  I  notice  the  old 
regulars  have  only  a  fife  and  drum  for  music. 
You'd  better  join  a  regiment  as  a  soldier,  for 
actual  service.  If  you  have  got  any  kind  of  gimp 
in  you,  you  want  to  do  somethin'  more  than  blow- 
in'  !  Blowin'  's  well  enough  for  peace  ;  but  when 
you  come  down  to  real  blows,  a  musket  is  the 
thing-  for  a  man  who  wants  to  be  of  service  to  his 
country." 

When  I  interviewed  the  captain,  he  told  me  that 
the  governor  had  ordered  all  the  wounded  men 
home. 

"  But,  Captain,"  I  said,  "  I  want  to  stay  in 
Baltimore  with  the  company." 

"Soldiers,"  said  he,  "obey  orders;  they  don't 
consult  their  personal  wishes." 

When  I  told  Grim  that  I  was  to  be  sent  to 
Massachusetts,  he  said,  "  Well,  Jack,  you've  got  a 
chance  ter  be  a  live  hero.  They're  making  a  great 
fuss  over  wounded  men  at  home,  and  you've  got  a 
bis;   chance.      I  wouldn't   mind  goin'   home   with 


64  JACK  ALDEN. 

a  little  wound  —  sort  of  a  decoration,  ye'  see  — 
myself.  You're  all  right  for  a  commission,  too, 
if  you  ask  it,  in  case  this  war  keej^s  on." 

I  soon  packed  up,  and  hobbled  down  town  to 
say  good-by  to  Dr.  Milner  and  Miss  May.  I  wore 
my  uniform,  had  taken  unusual  pains  with  my 
hands  and  collar,  and  with  what  by  courtesy  was 
supposed  to  be  a  mustache  ;  and  as  I  was  five  feet 
ten  inches  in  heiglit,  muscular,  broad-shouldered, 
had  very  dark  hair  and  eyes,  I  felt  when  I  pre- 
sented myself  at  Dr.  Milner's  to  say  good-by,  that 
I  was  looking  very  well. 

The  doctor  was  in  his  office  ;  and  when  told  that 
I  had  come  to  say  good-by  before  going  home, 
he  sent  for  Miss  May,  saying  as  she  came  in,  — 

"May,  here's  Alden  as  good  as  new.  He's  off 
this  afternoon  for  the  blessed  land  of  baked  beans 
and  brown  bread  !  " 

The  sight  of  Miss  May's  refined  face  abated 
somewhat  my  conceit  in  my  own  personal  appear- 
ance. She  was  slight,  light  and  graceful,  and  per- 
fectly self-possessed,  while  I  felt  awkward  and 
self-conscious.  When  I  stammered  out  my  thanks 
for  her  previous  kindness,  she  replied,  — 

"  Oh,  that  is  nothing !  I'm  fond  of  taking  care 
of  sick  people.  Had  I  been  a  boy  I  should  have 
been  a  surgeon  like  my  father.  I  was  very  much 
interested  in  your  case.  I  have  nursed  our  ser- 
vants when  they  have  been  sick,  but  never  had  a 
real  wound  to  care  for  before." 


THE   YANKEES  HAVE  COME.  65 

It  must  be  confessed  that  my  vanity  was  not  a 
little  piqued  at  this  remark,  since  it  seemed  to  in- 
dicate that  she  considered  me  in  the  light  of  a 
patient,  rather  than  as  a  young  man  and  an  equal. 
This  wound  to  my  pride  had  the  effect  of  chan- 
ging my  blushing  confusion  to  coldness  and  self- 
possession,  —  qualities  which  were  more  natural  to 
me  than  the  reverse. 

Dr.  Milner,  who  was  an  acute  observer,  as  I 
afterwards  recognized,  noticed  the  change ;  for  he 
hastened  to  say,  — 

"  May,  as  well  as  m3-self,  is  glad  to  have  been 
of  service  to  my  old  friend  Alden's  son.  By  the 
way,  you  look  like  your  father  this  morning.  He 
was  as  strong  as  an  ox  ;  always  took  my  part  in 
college  when  I  got  into  a  row,  though  he  wouldn't 
hurt  a  fly  on  his  own  account.  There  wasn't  any 
bully  in  college  could  back  Jack  Alden  down." 

At  last  I  said  good-by  for  the  last  time,  and 
walked  away,  feeling  blue  and  lonely.  That  day 
I  took  the  train,  and  in  the  course  of  the  next 
da}^  was  at  my  home  in  Centerboro'  once  more. 


66  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

HOME   AGAIN. 

I  PASSED  through  the  streets  of  Centerboro'  with 
conflicting^  emotions.  There  had  been  but  few 
changes,  though  I  had  not  seen  my  home  for  four 
years  (and  how  much  longer  are  the  years  of 
youth  than  those  of  middle  life).  I  had  grown 
to  a  man's  stature  in  that  time ;  all  else  seemed  to 
have  stood  still.  Hurrying  through  the  village 
streets,  I  saw  familiar  faces  ;  yet  though  there  were 
many  curious  glances  at  my  uniform,  no  one  spoke 
to  me  or  appeared  to  recognize  me. 

"The  old  Alden  place,"  as  our  homestead  was 
called,  was  a  little  outside  the  village ;  and  I 
hastened  forward  until  its  familiar  surroundings 
came  in  sight.  The  odor  of  apple  blossoms  and 
of  ploughed  land  mingled  with  the  scent  of  the 
monument-like  balm-of-Gilead  trees  that  fronted 
the  house. 

The  house  standing  back  from  the  road ;  its  ca- 
pacious front  yard  of  greensward,  on  which  the 
dandelions  were  plentifully  sprinkled ;  the  tillage 
land  sloping  back  in  graceful  undulations  to  the 
river,  glimpses  of  which  could  be  seen  as  I   ap- 


HOME  AGAIN.  67 

proached,  and  which,  remembrance  told  me,  was 
grumbling  impatiently  at  the  rocky  bed  over  which 
foamed  its  shallow  waters,  —  all  seemed  but  minia- 
tures of  wliat  I  had  last  seen.  The  buildings  and 
distances  seemed  shrunken. 

A  sight  of  the  old  burial-ground,  high  upon  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  river,  its  white  monuments 
and  slabs  relieved  by  a  background  of  dark  pines, 
dampened  with  gloom  my  joyousness  ;  for  there 
my  dear  father  (with  other  generations  of  Al'- 
dens  of  the  old  Pilgrim  stock)   was  buried. 

I  hurried  forward,  opened  the  yard  gate,  went 
up  the  walk ;  and  when  the  front  door  opened  my 
mother  came  bustling  out,  and  I  was  in  her  dear 
arms  once  more.  A  young  lady,  who  also  came 
out,  I  soon  discovered  to  be  my  younger  sister 
Sarah,  who,  after  a  few  moments  of  curious  sur- 
prise, exclaimed  as  she  recognized  me,  — 

"  Why,  it's  Jack  !  but  how  big  he's  grown  !  " 

I  was  soon  seated  in  a  favorite  corner  of  our 
"front  room,"  telling  ray  mother  and  sisters,  and 
my  brother,  who  had  come  in  from  the  farm,  my 
experiences  since  I  had  left  the  old  home. 

My  brother  was  much  interested  in  what  he 
called  my  adventures ;  and  all  were  very  indignant 
when  I  gave  them  for  the  first  time  ni}^  account  of 
the  treatment  I  had  received  from  my  uncle  Rich- 
ard, who  had  represented  the  situation  in  a  totally 
different  light. 

That  evening  a  number  of  our  neighbors  came 


68  JACK  ALDEN. 

in  to  see  me,  and  to  hear  of  my  experiences  in  the 
much-talkecl-of  "  battle  "  at  Baltimore.  I  found 
their  imaginations  had  depicted  it  as  a  much  more 
bloody  affair  than  it  really  was,  and  that  in  their 
hunger  for  sensations  they  did  not  appear  to  be 
satisfied  with  simple  facts. 

I  afterwards  found  that  some  of  my  listeners 
had  embellished  my  plain  narrative  with  what  they 
evidently  considered  needful  incidents,  until,  like 
a  rolling  ball  of  snow,  my  story  grew  larger  and 
larger  as  it  advanced  from  its  starting-point.  It 
was  not  long  before  we  heard  that  it  had  been 
reported  that  I  had  lost  both  of  my  legs,  besides 
receiving  numerous  other  wounds  in  divers  parts 
of  my  body. 

When  curious  visitors  were  told  that  my  crutch 
was  made  in  Baltimore,  even  that  became  an  ob- 
ject of  hungry  curiosity. 

The  editor  of  the  little  village  paper  came  to 
"  Alden  House "  to  see  the  terrible  wounds  of 
which  he  had  heard;  and  I  was  almost  ashamed 
to  show  him  the  insignificant  gunshot  wound 
which  he  insisted  upon  seeing,  and  which  report 
had  magnified  beyond  all  truthful  proportions. 

When  the  Centerhoro'  Gazette  came  out,  there 
was  a  half-column  given  to  me.     It  said :  — 

"  Our  young  and  esteemed  fellow-townsman,  John 
Alden,  who  so  gallantly  conducted  himself  in  the 
bloody  passage   through   Baltimore  on   the  19th  of 


HOME  AGAIN.  69 

April,  is  now  at  his  old  home,  where  we  had  the 
pleasure  of  an  interview  with  him.  Though  but  a 
boy,  we  found  hiui  modest,  manly,  and  stalwart, 
but  still  pale  from  the  severe  wound  he  received  in 
the  battle  with  the  Baltimore  rebels.  He  intends 
to  remain  at  his  home  only  a  short  time,  as  he  is  e?i 
route  to  report  to  the  surgeon-general  of  the  State. 
As  it  has  been  reported  that  he  is  in  a  dying  con- 
dition, we  are  glad  to  say  that,  though  his  wound  is 
a  terrible  one,  caused  by  a  bullet  which  passed  through 
the  leg,  shattering  the  bone,  yet  he  is  on  the  road  to 
recovery.  He  showed  us  a  letter  from  Colonel  Jones 
of  his  regiment,  recommending  him  to  the  governor 
as  a  gallant  and  deserving  soldier.  He  informs  us 
that  the  re-entry  of  his  regiment  into  Baltimore  on 
the  14th  of  May  —  seizing  the  arms  of  the  insurgents 
and  fortifying  Federal  Hill,  above  that  city,  where 
their  camps  are  now  pitched  —  was  a  very  gallant 
affair." 

This  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  figured  in  a 
newspaper ;  and  its  statements  seemed  so  exagger- 
ated, and  conveyed  so  many  false  impressions, 
that  I  went  at  once  to  the  village  to  correct  it. 
The  editor  coolly  informed  me  that  it  could  not 
be  corrected  before  the  next  issue,  and  that  by 
that  time  it  would  be  forgotten  in  other  matters 
of  interest. 

I  had  been  paid  off  before  leaving  Baltimore, 
and  had  some  forty  dollars,  most  of  which  I  gave 
to  my  mother,  to  assist  in  paying  taxes  and  neces- 
sary household  expenses. 


70  JACK  ALDEN. 

I  learned  from  my  brother  that  a  considerable 
sum  in  interest  had  been  added  to  the  mortgage 
uncle  Richard  held,  and  that  he  evidently  felt 
already  secure  in  finally  possessing  the  place,  and 
was  apparently  only  awaiting  a  favorable  opportu- 
nity to  do  so.  He  thought  if  we  could  clear  up 
the  mortgage,  we  might  sell  tlie  land  skirting  the 
street  for  house-lots,  for  a  sum  which  would  leave 
us  free  from  debt,  and  at  the  same  time  not  de- 
crease greatly  the  value  of  the  farm.  A  new 
shoe  factory  and  shovel-works,  in  another  part  of 
the  town,  were  bringing  many  new  people  to 
Centerboro',  and  the  land  was  likely  to  become 
more  and  more  valuable  every  year.  I  inquired 
of  my  mother  about  my  father's  cousin  in  Boston, 
Mr.  Rich,  and  proposed  to  visit  him  when  there, 
and  get  advice  as  to  my  father's  estate. 

My  brother  informed  me  that  my  uncle  had 
come  to  Centerboro'  several  times,  ostensibly  to 
see  how  "  the  widow  was  getting  on,"  but  in  real- 
\tj  to  dictate  how  the  woodland  should  be  cut 
in  order  to  preserve  its  value.  That  he  had  then 
suggested  to  my  uncle  that  this  portion  of  the 
land  be  sold  to  clear  it  of  debt;  but  that  my  uncle 
Richard  had  threateningly  exclaimed,  "  You'll  lose 
the  whole  farm  if  you  ain't  careful !  You  want  to 
improve  the  farm,  and  not  let  it  all  run  down,  as 
you  are  doing." 

"  I  believe,"  said  my  brother,  "  that  he  thinks 
we  are  fools ;  and  I  believe  he  is  a  sharper,  and 


HOME  AGAIN.  71 

not  the  good  man  that  some  people  think  him  to 
be." 

In  my  talk  with  brother  Richard,  I  found  that 
he  was  hard-headed,  and,  though  not  much  of  a 
talker,  had  determination,  courage,  and  rare  good 
sense. 

"  I  wouldn't  work  a  day  on  this  farm,"  said  he, 
"but  that  it  is  giving  mother  and  the  girls  a  home. 
I  must  look  carefully  before  I  act,  for  uncle  Rich- 
ard is  waiting  to  take  advantage  of  any  mistakes 
I  make.  I  hear  he  talks  of  coming  here  to  start  a 
shoe  factory;  but  I  believe  he  wants  to  watch  his 
chance  and  gobble  up  the  Alden  place  as  a  part 
of  his  profits." 

I  told  him  my  suspicions  that  Richard  Alden 
had  never  loaned  my  father  the  full  amount  of 
money  for  which  he  held  a  mortgage  ;  that  when 
he  found  the  mortgage  and  its  acknowledgment  of 
value  received  in  his  hands,  his  srreed  was  so  srreat 
that  he  could  not  resist  taking  advantage  of  the 
circumstances,  and  that  he  had  then  made  memo- 
randa to  account  for  all  the  money  covered  by 
the  mortgage.  I  then  told  him  of  the  effect  of 
my  last  angry  accusation.  We  agreed  that  when 
visiting  Ivory  Rich,  I  was  to  see  if  something 
could  be  done  to  get  the  farm  out  of  the  clutches 
of  Richard  Alden. 

I  was  at  home  only  a  few  days,  and  had  a  very 
pleasant  time  visiting  acquaintances  and  school- 
mates, among  whom  were  Dick  Nickerson  and  Jed 


72  JACK  ALDEN. 

Hoskins,  both  of  whom  had  been  at  Fort  Sumter 
during  its  bombardment  and  capture.  I  met  them 
at  Silas  Eaton's.  He,  at  that  time,  had  begun  to 
state  his  "  idees,"  as  he  called  them,  "  about  the 
war."  "It's  my  opinion,"  said  Silas,  "referring  to 
the  passage  of  the  Sixth  through  Baltimore,  "that 
yer  cap'n  was  a  fool,  or  he'd  hev  stopped  and  hev 
throwd  up  a  barricade,  and  'a'  shot  down  them 
secesh  fellers  right  and  left.  They'd  kind  'a'  got 
sick  of  interferin'  with  yer  'fore  long,  I  guess." 

"But,"  said  I,  "  what  would  them  fellows  have 
been  doing  while  we  stacked  arms  and  dug  up  the 
paving-stones  for  a  barricade?  We  should  have 
had  to  get  over  the  distance  somehow,  and  we 
were  under  orders  besides." 

"  Seems  ter  me  yer  hain't  got  no  sense,  Alden. 
You  could  'a'  formed  a  holler  square  'round  yer 
workin'  party,  and  stood  'em  off  a  while,  while  yer 
barricaded,"  said  Silas  in  his  most  querulous  and 
dogmatic  key. 

I  found  a  great  many  home  critics  who  were 
dissatisfied  with  the  work  done  in  the  field,  yet 
who  had  never  found  time  to  go  there  in  person 
to  settle,  by  their  intelligent  direction  and  helpful 
work,  its  difficulties. 

I  remained  at  home  but  a  short  time,  then  took 
leave  of  my  mother,  sister,  and  brother,  and  re- 
ported one  forenoon  to  the  surgeon-general  in 
Boston. 

I  was  very  tired  upon  reaching  his  office ;  and 


"It's  my  opinion,  that  yer  cap'in  was  a  fool. 
—  Paore  72. 


HOME  AGAIN.  73 

as  he  was  very  deaf,  I  made  myself  the  more  so 
in  trying  to  make  him  hear.  The  kind-hearted  old 
surgeon-general,  when  he  understood  that  I  was  a 
memher  of  the  Sixth  Regiment,  ordered  refresh- 
ments, and  treated  me  as  if  I  was  his  own  son.  I 
told  him  that  as  my  mother  Avas  a  widow  and  poor, 
and  as  I  was  not  able  to  do  military  duty,  I  should 
like  my  discharge,  in  order  to  get  to  work  as  soon 
as  possible. 

"  A  good  son  as  Avell  as  a  good  soldier,"  bawled 
the  old  surgeon-general  to  a  pleasant-appearing 
gentleman  who  had  come  in,  and  who  proved  to 
be  Governor  Andrew,  the  same  who  had  patheti- 
cally ordered  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  dead  "to 
be  packed  in  ice,  and  tenderly  sent  forward." 

That  afternoon  I  went  down  on  Court  Street, 
looking  up  at  the  constellation  of  lawyers'  signs, 
and  soon  found  my  cousin  Rich's  office. 

Rapping  at  a  door  on  which  was  a  sign  which 
read,  "I.  N.  Rich,  Attorney  and  Counsellor  at 
Law  ;  "  and  on  hearing  a  rough  voice  say,  "  Come 
in,"  I  entered  a  musty-smelling  office  where  sat  a 
large  man  with  his  feet  elevated  on  a  desk,  smok- 
ing a  clay  pipe,  as  if  he  were  pressed  for  time 
to  accomplish  a  stated  task.  Without  removing 
his  pipe  or  offering  me  a  seat,  he  said  presently, 
"Well,  what  is  it?" 

I  looked  the  lawyer  over,  and  took  in  his  per- 
sonality as  follows :  A  large  head  covered  with 
thick  red  hair ;  steel-blue  penetrating  eyes,  which 


74  JACK  ALDEN. 

assumed  at  times  an  abstracted  look ;  ruddy  com- 
plexion, a  massive  jaw,  a  clean-shaved  face,  broad 
shoulders,  and  a  long  body. 

When  he  understood  who  I  was,  he  rose  and 
gave  me  a  chair;  and  I  then  discovered  that  he 
was  six  feet  in  his  stockings.  Once  seated,  he 
began  to  ask  questions,  as  if  cross-examining 
me,  all  the  while  with  an  abstracted  look  in  his 
eyes. 

When  I  had  told  him  of  my  father's  death,  and 
what  part  my  uncle  Richard  had  taken  in  our 
affairs,  he  ejaculated  hoarsely,  "  He's  a  pirate !  " 

My  experience  in  the  Sixth  Massachusetts 
seemed  to  interest  him ;  and  our  conference  ended 
by  his  inviting  me  to  go  home  with  him  when  he 
came  from  court.  "  Got  to  go  into  court  soon," 
he  said ;  "  be  Jiere  at  four  o'clock,  or  you  can  stay 
here  and  read." 

"  You  will  want  to  shut  up  the  office,"  I  said. 

"  Naw ;  no  one  wants  anything  from  a  law- 
office  ! "  he  exclaimed.  "  We  always  leave  the 
door  open  !  Come  around,  or  sit  here  and  read." 
So  I  sat  there  and  read  the  Journal;  and,  to  my 
surprise,  found  there  quoted  what  the  Centerboro' 
paper  had  said  regarding  me. 

I  found  my  cousin  Ivory  Rich  a  different  man 
in  his  home  than  in  his  office.  Here  he  left  be- 
hind that  dictatorial,  bullying,  cross-examining 
self,  and  was  the  most  simple  and  companionable 
man  I  ever  knew.     I  have  since  met  military  men 


HOME  AGAIN.  75 

who  had  this  same  double  manner,  one  for  duty, 
another  for  friends  when  off  duty. 

During  the  evening  I  asked  his  advice  about 
my  mother's  affairs,  and  plainly  stated  to  him  my 
suspicions  that  when  my  uncle  got  the  mortgage 
in  his  hands,  he  had  been  too  greedy  ever  to  pay 
over  to  my  mother  the  money  that  had  been  agreed 
upon  between  him  and  my  father. 

"  Well,  yes  —  very  probably  —  you  and  I  may 
have  convictions  founded  upon  our  knowledge  of 
character  and  circumstances ;  but  that  is  not  evi- 
dence. We  can't  get  a  judgment  on  that.  We 
can  scare  him,  perhaps.  Let  the  matter  rest  with 
me.  I'll  see  what  I  can  do.  I'll  write  a  note, 
asking  him  to  call  on  me,  and  see  what  he  says. 
We'll  scare  him  a  little." 

In  the  course  of  the  conversation  I  said  that 
as  soon  as  I  got  employment  I  was  promised  my 
discharge,  and  asked  him  what  I  had  better  do. 

"  Well,"  said  Ivory,  with  tones  long  drawn  out 
on  the  well,  "  yon  can't  go  home  and  live  on 
your  mother,  and  you  draw  pay  now,  —  let  me  see. 
There's  a  client  of  mine  down  on  Washinsfton 
Street,  a  '  patent  rights  '  man.  He  wants  a  clerk 
to  take  charge  of  his  collection  of  rat-traps  and 
corn-shellers,  coffee-machines,  washing-machines, 
and  all  sorts  of  traps  that  he  calls  an  '  Industrial 
Museum.'  He  wants  some  one  to  write,  and 
stand  around  and  show  people  the  place,  and, 
if  they  get  interested  in  a  machine,  to  introduce 


76  JACK  ALDEN. 

them  to  his  office,  where  he'll  sell  them  a  patent 
right.  I'd  as  lief  buy  a  house-lot  in  the  moon; 
but  the  fools  ain't  all  dead  yet.  I  guess  I  can  get 
you  the  place  at  ten  dollars  a  week  and  board. 
What  do  you  say?  " 


A   PATENT  RIGHTS  MAN.  77 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

A   PATENT   RIGHTS   MAN. 

The  next  morning  I  was  introduced  to  my 
future  employer.  On  our  way  to  his  place,  Ivory 
Rich  said,  "  Blusterson  is  all  right  if  his  business 
goes  right ;  but  he  plans  too  big  sometimes,  and  if 
he  gets  into  a  hard  spot,  some  one  will  have  to 
suffer,  and  it  won't  be  Blusterson." 

I  replied,  "  You  don't  mean  to  say  he'd  "  — 

"Here  we  are,"  interrupted  Ivory  Rich;  "this 
is  the  place." 

We  had  stopped  before  a  large,  flatiron-shaped 
building  facing  a  triangle,  called  in  Boston,  by 
courtesy,  a  square. 

Around  the  outside  and  at  the  second  story 
of  this  edifice  was  stretched  a  canvas,  on  which 
was  painted  in  large  red  and  black  letters,  "  The 
Great  Industrial  Museum." 

We  went  ujj  one  flight  of  stairs,  and  entered  an 
office,  fitted  up  apparently  as  much  for  show  as  for 
use. 

Here  at  a  desk  was  seated  a  large,  handsome 
man,  carefully  dressed,  who  rose  and  shook  hands 
with  Ivory  Rich  in  a  hail-fellow-well-met  sort  of 
fashion. 


78  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  This,"  said  Rich,  introducing  me,  "  is  young 
Alden  of  whom  I  have  spoken  to  you." 

"Take  a  seat,  young  man,"  said  Blusterson; 
then  bluffly  added,  "  think  you  would  like  to  come 
here  and  take  charge  of  things?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  I  said  inquiringly,  "  exactly 
what  the  work  is." 

He  replied,  "  You  are  to  take  charge  of  the 
rooms  of  the  museum,  show  people  around,  and 
make  yourself  agreeable  to  ladies  and  every  one 
else.  That'll  suit  you,  won't  it?  "  and  Blusterson, 
throwing  back  his  head,  looked  smilingly  down  into 
my  face,  then  added,  "  Lame,  I  see." 

I  explained  to  him  that  I  had  been  wounded  in 
the  Baltimore  Riot,  at  which  he  professed  great  in- 
terest, saying,  "  I've  been  a  militia  colonel  myself, 
and  strutted  around  gay  as  a  peacock,  with  brass 
buttons  and  feathers.  I've  felt  full  of  fight  for 
months,  but  can't  leave  business  now." 

My  pay  was  agreed  upon,  and  was  made  larger 
than  I  proposed ;  because,  as  he  said,  "  A  man  who 
has  been  in  the  battle  of  Baltimore  will  be  an 
attraction  to  the  exhibition." 

Blusterson  said  this  in  a  manner  that  made  me 
feel  that  he  did  not  himself  believe  this  assertion, 
but  was  determined  that  I  should.  There  was 
something  in  his  manner  that  seemed  to  say, 
"I  am  determined  to  put  every  one  on  good 
terms  with  themselves,  and  consequently  with 
me." 


A   PATENT  RIGHTS  MAN.  79 

"  How  does  your  show  go,  Blusterson  ? "  in- 
quired Rich. 

"The  show?  It  hasn't  begun  yet;  wait  a  week, 
and  I  shall  be  as  famous  —  well,  more  talked  about 
than  any  other  man  in  the  country." 

"  Do  inventors  seem  interested  ?  "  asked  my 
cousin. 

"  Well,  they  are  waiting  for  each  other ;  when 
they  get  to  coming,  they  will  come  in  a  bunch," 
said  Blusterson,  throwing  back  his  head,  shaking 
it,  and  compressing  his  lips,  with  an  expression 
half  between  swagger  and  smiling  determination, 
as  if  he  wished  to  convince  his  listeners  of 
that  of  which  he  was  only  partly  convinced  him- 
self ;  namely,  that  events  generally  went  to  suit 
him. 

After  Rich  had  gone,  Blusterson  showed  me 
around  what  he  called  the  "  establishment,"  which 
consisted  of  four  stories  of  space.  These  rooms 
had  shafting  overhead  for  running  machinery, 
not  much  of  which,  however,  had  arrived.  There 
were  patent  churns,  washing-machines,  corn-shel- 
lers,  sewing-machines,  and  various  other- Yankee 
patented  articles. 

I  soon  saw  that  Increase  Blusterson  had  a  mar- 
vellous faculty  for  understanding  and  running  ma- 
chines. When  once  or  twice  during  our  rounds 
his  attention  was  called  by  an  attendant  to  some 
trouble  in  their  running,  he  explained  to  the  oper- 
ator in  an  instant  what  the  difficulty  was,  and  in 


80  JACK  ALDEN. 

some  instances  set  machines  running  with  his  own 
hands. 

"  Ah  !  here  is  something  that  will  interest  you," 
he  said,  stopping  in  front  of  a  machine.  "  It's  a 
pegging-machine."  (I  had  told  him  that  I  had 
worked  at  shoemaking).  "  Here  !  it  goes  in  this 
way."  Thereupon  he  adjusted  the  belt,  and,  after 
lucidly  explaining  its  workings  to  me,  caught  up 
a  shoe  made  ready  to  peg,  and  said,  "  See  if  you 
can  use  it;"  and  he  stood  patiently  instructing  me 
until  I  was  able  to  use  the  machine  to  his  satisfac- 
tion, and  then  said,  — 

"  Show  it  up,  Alden,  to  every  shoe-man  that 
comes  in ;  and  if  any  of  them  seem  interested, 
bring  them  down  and  introduce  them  to  me.  I'll 
sell  them  a  patent  right,  perhaps  —  if  they've  got 
the   money." 

There  was  something  almost  boyishly  good-na- 
tured and  winning  in  the  large,  handsome  proprie- 
tor of  the  Industrial  Museum;  and  though  I  was 
not  long  in  discovering  the  counter  fact,  that  he 
was  one  who  would  not  be  very  considerate  of  any 
one's  interests  where  they  interfered  with  his  own, 
that  charm  continued  to  hold  its  influence  over 
me. 

As  he  stood  by  my  side,  six  feet  and  over  in 
height;  a  ruddy,  smiling,  but  determined  face;  a 
dome-shaped  forehead,  very  broad  at  the  base ;  mas- 
sive jaws,  well-rounded  with  flesh  however;  keen 
blue  eyes,  well  set  back  under   his    overhanging 


A   PATENT  RIGHTS  MAN.  81 

brows,  I  could  not  help  thinking  that  nature 
had  cast  this  man  in  a  very  strong  and  unusual 
mould,  and  that  here  was  one  with  great  aggres- 
sive force  and  courage,  naturally  disposed  to  do 
business  on  a  large  scale,  and  who  would  break 
through  extraordinary  obstacles  by  brute  force,  if 
he  could  not  invent  a  way  to  get  around  them 
without  violence. 

I  had  not  been  many  months  at  the  "  Exhibi- 
tion," as  he  called  it,  before  there  were  signs  that 
it  was  going  to  prove  a  failure.  The  receipts  were 
small  and  the  expenses  large.  Inventors  did  not 
send  in  their  machines,  and  people  did  not  come 
to  the  exhibition,  notwithstanding  lavish  adver- 
tising. 

The  necessity  of  sending  my  mother  money 
caused  me  to  ask  for  my  salary  each  week,  and 
it  was  paid  without  hesitation ;  for  Blusterson 
would  not  admit  by  word  or  look  that  this  "  busi- 
ness "  was  not  a  success. 

At  one  time,  when  a  patent  clothes-pin  was 
among  the  things  exhibited,  he  said,  "  Show  it 
up,  Alden ;  such  little  things  take.  Perhaps  I 
can  sell  the  patent  to  some  one." 

"Do  you  think,"  I  incredulously  ejaculated, 
"that  any  one  will  buy  that?" 

"Buy  it!"  he  exclaimed,  throwing  back  his 
head,  compressing  his  lips,  and  with  a  half-hu- 
morous smile,  "Bless  you,  my  boy!  they'll  cry 
for  it." 


82  JACK  ALDEN. 

After  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run  he  came  in 
with  a  newspaper  containing  the  news ;  and,  as  we 
sat  talking  it  over,  he  for  the  first  time  made  a 
half-acknowledgment  that  his  exhibition  might  not 
be  a  great  success,  by  saying,  "  I'm  afraid  this  war 
will  attract  more  attention  than  my  museum  will ; 
two  big  shows  can't  be  run  together,  at  least  not 
successfully.  If  I'd  known  this  war  was  to  be 
so  serious,  I'd  have  had  some  new  war  machines. 
But,"  he  added,  with  a  tone  of  satisfaction,  "I 
sold  the  patent  of  the  Great  Western  Corn-sheller 
yesterday ;  got  some  money  and  some  notes :  mon- 
ey's sure,  notes  doubtful." 

I  had,  meanwhile,  become  very  expert  in  run- 
ning the  pegging-machine,  and  had  suggested  that 
we  get  shoes  from  the  manufactories.  So  every 
once  in  a  while  a  sixty-pair  lot  of  brogans  was 
pegged,  and  sent  to  the  factories  free  of  cost. 
This  naturally  attracted  the  manufacturers  to  see 
the  machine. 

Now,  among  the  qualities  possessed  by  Increase 
Blusterson,  was  his  ability  to  throw  a  glamour 
over  the  eyes  of  men,  and  make,  as  he  exjjressed 
it,  "a  handful  of  peanuts  look  to  be  a  bushel." 

In  selling  a  patent  right,  he  would  begin  by  im- 
pressing his  customer  with  the  importance  of  the 
machine ;  then  deftly  getting  him  to  state  how 
many  machines  or  articles  governed  by  the  patent 
he  thought  could  be  sold  among  a  thousand  peo- 
ple, he  would   proceed  thereon  to  figure  out  the 


A    PATENT  RIGHTS  MAN.  83 

enormous  number  that  could  be  sold  in  a  given 
territory,  and  would  end  by  saying,  "  Will  you 
take  this  chance  to  make  a  fortune,  sir?"  Fi- 
nally, he  would  end  by  getting  all  the  money  his 
customer  would  give,  and  take  the  rest  in  notes, 
even  if  the  latter  were  contingent  upon  selling  a 
definite  number  of  machines. 

After  one  of  these  transactions  he  would  smil- 
ingly shake  his  head  and  say,  with  his  half-hu- 
morous compression  of  lips,  "Now  I've  got  what 
/  want,  he  must  scramble  around  and  get  Avhat 
he  wants." 

In  showing  up  the  pegging-machine,  he  always 
allowed  me  to  run  it,  because,  as  he  said,  "  Then 
I  can  say  that  any  one  can  run  it;  and  the  fact 
is,  you  have  got  the  hang  of  it  so  that  you  can 
beat  the  man  who  made  it!"  This  statement 
was  no  mere  compliment;  for  by  practice  I  had 
become  very  expert  in  running  it,  and  knew  most 
of  its  weak  and  strong  points. 

I  had  just  come  in  from  some  errand  outside 
one  day,  when  I  heard  a  voice  in  the  office  which 
I  at  once  recognized  as  my  uncle  Richard's. 

"  But,"  I  heard  him  say,  "  can  any  one  run  it?  " 

"  Run  it !  "  Blusterson  exclaimed,  "  why,  sir,  it 
almost  runs  itself !  A  mere  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars for  the  State  is  nothing  for  the  patent,  sir! 
Any  of  these  boys  can  run  that  machine,  sir." 
Then  touching  his  bell,  he  summoned  the  porter, 
and  said,  "  Where's  Alden  ?  " 


84  JACK  ALDEN. 

On  being  called,  I  came  into  the  office.  Uncle 
Richard  recognized  me,  and  with  a  cold  glitter  in 
his  eye,  and  a  frosty  sort  of  voice,  ejaculated, 
"Humph!  it's  you,  is  it?"  Then,  as  if  desirous, 
on  second  thought,  of  making  a  good  impression, 
he  came  forward,  shook  hands,  and  said,  "  I'm 
sorry  you  are  lame;  I  heard  all  about  it,  Jack." 
Then,  in  an  undertone,  "  You  mustn't  hold  any 
grudge  against  me."  Then  again  to  Blusterson, 
who  was  keenly  observant  of  the  scene,  as  if  he 
had  caught  a  cue  from  it,  said,  "  Let  us  go  up 
and  look  at  the  machine  again." 

When  we  were  once  more  at  the  machine,  and 
a  shoe  was  put  on  the  jack  ready  for  pegging, 
Blusterson  turned  to  me  and  said,  "Here,  Alden, 
you  show  him."  This  I  did  by  pegging  three  or 
four  pairs  of  shoes  in  an  easy,  careless  way,  which, 
I  could  see  by  the  glitter  of  Richard  Alden's  eyes, 
very  much  impressed  him.  Blusterson  saw  it  too ; 
for,  as  if  desirous  to  close  a  bargain  before  this 
impression  wore  off,  he  said  carelessly,  "  Well,  le's 
go  to  the  office ;  it's  more  comfortable  there,"  and 
led  the  way  down.  My  uncle  Richard  stayed  be- 
hind just  long  enough  to  cast  a  suspicious  glance 
at  the  machine,  while  he  whispered  to  me,  "  There's 
no  trick  about  it.  Jack,  is  there?"  I  answered, 
"  You  see  for  yourself  the  machine  pegs  as  well  as 
you  or  I  can,  and  faster  than  twenty  of  us  could. 
I  wouldn't  pay  much  money,  though." 

After  this,  as  I  passed  the  office,  I  heard  Blus- 


A   PATENT  RIGHTS  MAN.  85 

terson  say,  "  You  see  a  boy  can  run  it,  and  there's 
no  doubt  there's  a  fortune  in  it !  Now's  your 
chance  to  make  a  million  dollars ;  or,  if  you  want 
to  give  your  neighbors  a  chance  to  get  rich  with 
you,  I'll  sell  you  the  patent  right  for  your  county 
for  five   thousand  dollars." 

Increase  Blusterson  and  my  uncle  Richard  were 
closeted  for  several  hours ;  and  then  the  office-door 
opened,  and  I  heard  the  clinking  of  glasses.  In  a 
short  time  I  heard  the  patent-rights  man's  voice  as 
he  said,  "  You  might  as  well  close  the  trade  now, 
and  go  to  dinner  with  me."  And  then  I  knew 
that  my  uncle  Richard  was  in  the  web  of  Bluster- 
son,  as  many  had  been  before. 

In  a  few  moments  they  came  out  arm  in  arm. 
I  noticed  that  uncle  had  an  uncertain  glitter  in 
his  eyes,  and  his  head  was  thrown  back  in  a 
consequential,  self-assertive  manner,  as  he  passed 
out  of  the  ofhce  to  a  hotel  near  by,  where  Increase 
Blusterson  took  his  visitors  to  dine  after  the 
consummation  of  a  bargain. 

I  did  not  see  my  uncle  again  at  that  time,  and 
only  knew  that  the  pegging-machine  in  the  exhi- 
bition had  been  taken  down  and  sent  to  him, 
and  a  new  one  substituted.  When  I  questioned 
Blusterson,  he  replied,  '■'■  Yes,  I  made  a  small  sale. 
It's  only  a  small  trade,  mostly  notes ;  but  then, 
the  money  is  all  gain." 

My  evenings  at  this  time  were  mostly  spent 
at  the  armory,  drilling  recruits  for   the  different 


86  JACK  ALDEN. 

regiments  forming  at  that  time  under  the  call 
of  the  president ;  for  I  was  considered  quite  pro- 
ficient in  drill. 

I  had  by  this  time  dispensed  with  my  crutch, 
and,  though  still  lame,  used  only  a  cane.  I  was 
treated  with  much  respect  by  those  entering  the 
army,  because  it  was  well  known  that  I  had  seen 
service,  as  it  was  then  termed,  at  Baltimore.  After- 
wards an  engagement  in  a  street  riot  would  not 
have  been  designated  as  service. 

In  the  course  of  the  next  six  months  the  Indus- 
trial Museum,  as  an  exhibition,  was  so  complete  a 
failure,  that  even  Blusterson  said  allegorically,  — 

"  When  I  was  a  youngster  up  in  Vermont,  there 
were  two  kinds  of  boys :  one  dug  to  the  end  of 
the  woodchuck's  hole,  and,  if  the  woodchuck 
wasn't  in,  stopped ;  and  another  kind  who  still 
kept  on  digging,  until  they  were  way  beyond  the 
hole  !  " 

I  understood  this  simile  better  by  after  events 
than  I  did  at  the  time  he  used  it. 

One  morning  he  came  into  the  office  dressed 
with  unusual  care.  I  could  not  help  thinking 
that  he  looked  the  very  picture  of  cheerful  pros- 
perity. He  talked  for  a  while  about  forming  a 
stock  company  to  manufacture  a  new  mowing- 
machine,  and  then,  putting  into  his  capacious 
pocket-book  a  number  of  promissory  notes  which 
I  had  been  writing  by  his  direction,  he  sauntered 
leisurely  down  State  Street. 


A   PATENT  RIGHTS  MAN.  87 

He  came  in  late  that  afternoon,  and  taking 
from  his  pocket  a  great  pile  of  bank-bills,  asked 
me  to  count  them.  I  announced  the  sum,  which 
was  over  ten  thousand  dollars.  These  he  put 
away  carefully  in  his  pockets,  saying  in  a  satisfied 
and  confidential  undertone,  "  There !  I've  got  what 
I  want;  now  let  them  note-shavers  down  street 
get  what  they  want !  " 

Turning  to  me,  he  said,  "  Very  likely  I  shall 
not  be  in  to-morrow,  for  I've  got  some  business 
out  of  town,  and  may  be  gone  for  a  day  or  two. 
Stay  in  the  office  while  I'm  away,  and  answer 
questions." 

Two  weeks  passed.  Blusterson  did  not  come ; 
but  there  came  a  letter,  saying  that  he  had  been 
called  West  on  important  business.  He  asked  me 
to  keep  the  office  going,  and  enclosed  a  certified 
check  for  my  three  weeks'  wages,  and  the  pay 
of  the  porter  and  watchman.  In  some  way  I  got 
the  feeling  that  Increase  Blusterson  had  skipped 
the  country,  and  that  this  check  was  the  last 
money  I  would  get  from  him. 

In  a  few  days  there  came  numerous  duns  for 
money  due  ;  for  I  had  opened  all  letters,  sending 
to  him  only  those  that  contained  money,  or  that 
related  to  real  business. 

Then  came  the  sheriff,  and  the  Industrial 
Museum  was  closed.  But  the  creditors,  in  at- 
tempting to  dispose  of  the  property,  found  them- 
selves  checkmated  by  a  business-man  of  Boston, 


88  JACK  ALDEN. 

who  held  a  bill  of  sale  for  all  the  property  for- 
merly belonging  to  Blusterson. 

About  this  time  there  came  another  letter  from 
the  absentee,  saying,  — 

"  I  send  you  by  express  a  package  of  notes  of  hand 
from  different  persons,  from  which  you  will  be  able 
to  get  money  enough  to  make  good  your  pay.  I  see 
by  the  papers  that  the  '  Industrial  Museum '  is  closed, 
and  that  they  are  after  the  undersigned  with  '  sharp 
sticks.'  Well,  I  am  offered  a  commission  in  the 
army  ;  and  if  they  want  me,  let  them  come  to  the 
front  with  their  prods. 

1  am,  dear  sir, 

With  great  respect. 

Increase  Blusterson. 

"  P.  S.  —  If  you  get  more  than  enough  from  these 
notes  than  will  pay  yourself  and  the  men,  you  may 
keep  the  balance.  I  don't  want  you  to  suffer  any 
loss ;  and  with  these  you  may  get  square  with  that 
sharper,  your  uncle,  in  some  way. 

I.  B." 

I  shuffled  the  notes  over  carelessly.  They  were 
promissory  notes  of  hand  from  patent-rights  cus- 
tomers of  Increase  Blusterson.  Some  of  them 
were  conditional,  and  that,  too,  on  conditions 
which  I  knew  would  never  give  them  maturity. 
I  threw  them  into  my  trunk  without  giving  them 
any  more  attention  at  that  time. 

One    thing  stood  out  more  apparent  than  any- 


A   PATENT  RIGHTS  MAN.  89 

thing  else,  and  that  was  that  I  was  out  of  a  place. 
I  was  in  no  great  need  of  money,  however,  as  I 
had  some  fifty  dollars  by  me. 

Blusterson's  remark  about  going  into  the  army 
I  considered  as  merely  a  blind  to  throw  me  and 
others  off  the  track  of  his  real  intentions. 


90  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

I    HAVE   THE    WAR    FEVER. 

After  the  collapse  of  the  "Industrial  Museum," 
I  returned  to  Centerboro',  and  after  a  time  obtained 
employment,  with  small  pay,  as  clerk  in  the  village 
store. 

I  found  that  my  uncle  Richard  had  opened  a 
shop  there,  and,  with  a  large  gang  of  workmen 
and  the  aid  of  his  pegging-machines,  was  doing 
what  the  villagers  called  a  "  smashing  business  " 
in  bottoming  men's  and  boys'  brogans. 

The  summer  of  1862  was  a  period  of  great 
excitement  in  military  affairs.  McClellan  had 
advanced  with  an  army  of  over  one  hundred  thou- 
sand men  up  the  Peninsula,  and  had  fought  the 
battle  of  Fair  Oaks ;  but  while  the  people  were 
waiting  anxiously  for  him  to  capture  Richmond 
and  the  Confederate  army,  there  came  news  of  the 
Seven  Days'  Fight,  and  the  retreat  of  our  army  to 
Harrison's  Landing. 

The  military  spirit  ran  high,  so  far  as  talk  was 
concerned.  Men  well  off  in  worldly  affairs  were 
generally  more  enthusiastic  in  urging  their  friends 
to  go  than  in  going  themselves.    There  were  those 


/  HAVE    THE    WAR  FEVER.  91 

who  criticised  me  for  not  putting  my  military  ex- 
perience, as  they  called  it,  to  account,  by  going  to 
the  front. 

I  heard  fragments  of  sly  talk,  such  as,  "I  guess 
Alden  got  'nuff  of  it  the  fust  time ; "  and  that,  too, 
by  those  who  were  able-bodied,  and  were  not 
ashamed  that  they  had  not  shown  their  martial 
spirit  by  going  into  the  army  in  the  hour  of  their 
country's  peril. 

My  uncle  Richard  was  one  of  those  who  talked 
loudly  about  the  duty  of  able-bodied  young  men 
in  the  national  crisis,  but  he  never  offered  to  go 
himself ;  and  it  was  noticed  later  in  the  war,  when 
there  was  talk  of  a  draft  of  able-bodied  men,  that 
he  complained  of  rheumatism  and  other  ills,  griev- 
ous, but  never  before  known  to  keep  him  from 
working  fourteen  hours  a  day  at  profitable  em- 
ployments. 

I  was  young  and  enthusiastic,  as  boys  of  eigh- 
teen often  are  ;  I  was  also  not  a  little  irritated  by 
insinuations  that  my  courage  had  oozed  out  with 
my  first  military  experience. 

My  brother  thought  it  was  the  duty  of  one  of 
us  to  go  ;  and,  as  he  was  the  most  needed  at  home, 
I  naturally  felt  that  I  was  that  one.  Still,  I  made 
no  effort  at  that  time  to  enlist  again,  although  I 
had  obtained  my  mother's  and  brother's  consent. 

My  pay  was  small ;  and  I  was  secretly  chafing 
at  the  necessity  that  kept  me  at  home  (for  I  had 
really  seen  little  but  fair  weather  soldiering),  when 


92  JACK  ALDEN. 

an  incident  occurred  that  made  me  once  more  a 
soldier. 

I  had  been  to  Boston  on  some  business  con- 
nected with  the  store,  when,  going  up  Beach 
Street  from  the  station,  I  encountered  my  old 
friend  Grim.  I  had  not  seen  him  since  leaving 
the  company  at  Baltimore,  although  I  had  heard 
that  after  his  discharge  he  had  again  gone  to  the 
front  in  another  regiment. 

"  Just  the  man  I  Avas  thinking  about,"  said 
Grim,  shaking  my  hand,  and  unconsciously  crush- 
ing it  in  his  powerful  grasp. 

"Where,"  I  inquired,  "are  you  going?"  Then 
I  noticed  that  his  left  hand  was  bandaged,  and 
that  although  sunburned  he  looked  ill. 

"Fm  home  for  a  while  on  a  sort  of  furlough," 
said  he.  "  Got  a  little  swamp  fever  on  the 
Chickahominy,  and  a  reb  bullet  at  Malvern  Hill." 
Then  looking  me  over  he  continued,  "  Going  back 
soon  as  I  can  get  a  few  good  men."  Thro  wing- 
back  his  cape,  and  touching  the  captain's  straps  on 
his  shoulders,  he  looked  at  me  with  an  inquiring 
smile,  as  if  to  say,  "  Why  are  not  you  at  the  front, 
wearing  something  of  this  kind  ?  " 

"  Wasn't  the  Peninsula  Campaign  rather  a 
fizzle  ?  "  I  inquired  as  we  began  to  walk  towards 
Washington  Street. 

"  Humph  !  "  half  laughed  Grim.  "  Well,  we 
gave  and  took !  The  Rebel  army  is  good  stuff ; 
the  kind  you  can't  flatten  out  in  one  heat.     But 


/  HAVE    THE    WAR   FEVER.  93 

you'd  ought  to  seen  us  give  it  to  'em  at  Malvern 
Hill !     'Twould  have  done  your  soul  good  !  " 

"  But,"  I  said,  "  what  made  you  get  down  to 
Harrison's  Landing  so  quick  the  next  day  after 
you  had  whipped  them  at  Malvern  Hill  ?  " 

"  Humph  !  "  said  Grim,  knitting  his  brows  after 
the  old  fashion  of  contemplating  a  piece  of  forge 
work  that  did  not  suit  him  ;  then  after  a  moment, 
flashing  out  into  a  stern  smile,  he  said,  "■  I  wasn't 
running  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  just  then, 
Alden,  or  I'd  have  gone  for  them  with  the  heavi- 
est sledge  I  had.  Easy  work  to  criticise,  but  there 
are  a  good  many  things  to  take  into  consideration 
in  handling  an  army ;  you've  got  to  be  near  the 
work  to  see  the  difficulties.  I  find  all  I  want  to 
do  in  handling  my  company." 

We  walked  along,  jostled  by  the  crowds  of 
people  on  Washington  Street,  when  Grim  said, 
"  I  see  you've  got  over  your  lameness  all  right, 
Alden."  Then,  after  a  moment's  pause,  he  con- 
tinued, "  Why  won't  you  come  home  with  me  ? 
Wife  will  be  glad  to  see  j'ou ;  living  in  Lowell 
now,  you  know." 

"  I've  got  my  errands  done,  and  am  going  up 
to  see  my  cousin.  Ivory  Rich,"  said  I,  with  a 
touch  of  pride  at  my  relationship  to  a  man  so 
well  known.  "  I'm  going  to  his  office  now ; 
you'd  better  come  along  with  me,  and  perhaps 
I'll  go  home  with  you  afterwards.  Come  along ! 
He'll  be  glad  to  see  you ;  he's  heard  me  speak  of 


94  JACK  ALDEN. 

you.  You'll  like  him;  he's  your  kind  of  a  man, 
—  no  airs." 

"  All  right,"  said  Grim ;  and  after  a  long 
silence,  as  he  walked  by  my  side  with  his  long, 
swinging  stride,  he  resumed,  "  Why  don't  you 
go  back  with  me,  and  join  our  regiment?" 

"  Three  years,"  said  I  suggestively,  in  answer, 
"  is  a  good  while  to  enlist  for." 

"  Well,  yes,"  said  Grim  slowly.  "  But  then, 
tliere's  the  promise,  '  unless  sooner  discharged.'  " 
Then  his  face  settled  into  a  frown,  as  he  said 
decidedly,  "  What's  the  use  of  beating  around 
the  bush?  You  know,  or  at  least  I  know,  that 
we  are  likely  to  have  a  long,  bitter  war !  It's 
just  begun  ;  and  every  man  who  can  has  got  to  go 
to  the  front.  We've  got  a  big  job  on  hand !  I 
sometimes  think  we've  bitten  off  more  than  we 
can  chaw,  in  trying  to  lick  the  rebs.  But  I'm 
going  to  stay  in  it  as  long  as  it  lasts,  unless  I'm 
sooner  discharged — or  shot  down!  Of  course 
it  looks  discouraging;  but  that's  all  the  more 
reason  for  going.  We've  got  to  settle  down  into 
this  war  like  days'  works.  Every  man  who  loves 
his  country  must  fight  for  it." 

Grim  had  unconsciously  touched  the  right  cord 
in  my  make-up,  for  I  was  strongly  combative,  as 
well  as  patriotic ;  and  when  he  depicted  the  cause 
as  doubtful,  I  was  more  drawn  to  enlisting  than 
if  he  had  pictured  the  situation  in  favorable  colors. 
Besides  this,  Grim's  unselfish  patriotism  and  enthu- 


/   HAVE   THE    WAR  FEVER.  95 

siasm  were  contagious  ;  and  I  felt  a  strong  desire, 
like  an  invisible  cord  tugging  at  my  heart-strings, 
impelling  me  to  yield  to  his  urging,  althougli  I  put 
off  saying  "yes"  at  just  that  moment.  "  Grim," 
I  said,  "  I  thought  when  I  lay  with  a  hole  in  my 
leg  at  Baltimore,  that  I  had  got  enough  of  fighting 
and  ventilation  to  last  me  the  rest  of  my  life, 
but  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  I  went  into  the  army 
again  before  the  war  ends ;  I'd  like  to !  " 

"  See  here,  Alden,  you  had  a  nice  time  of  it 
there  in  Baltimore !  "  said  Grim.  "  Have  you 
heard  from  the  old  doctor  or  his  pretty  daughter 
lately  ?  " 

I  must  have  blushed,  for  my  thoughts  of  enter- 
ing the  service  and  my  patriotism  were  strangely 
mixed  with  the  image  of  May  Milner ;  and  Grim, 
seeing  my  confusion,  added,  "  When  a  man  has 
once  tasted  the  danger  and  excitement  of  army 
life,  he  longs  to  get  back  to  it." 

"  Yes,"  I  replied ;  "  it's  akin  to  fascination. 
Danger  and  fighting  seem  to  appeal  to  a  half- 
savage  instinct  that  is  latent  in  one." 

"  I  don't  know  what  it  is,"  said  Grim,  with  one 
of  his  half-laughs,  "  but  I  know  most  men  and 
boys  can't  even  see  a  dog-fight  without  wanting 
to  take  part  on  one  side  or  t'other." 

We  had  now  reached  the  door  of  my  cousin's 
law-office  on  Court  Street,  and,  going  in,  found 
him  engaged  with  a  business-man,  whom  he  intro- 
duced as  Mr.  Hewitt. 


96  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  Sit  down ;  we  are  all  through  business.  I 
haven't  got  to  go  into  court  for  two  hours  yet," 
said  my  cousin.  "  Well,  Alden,  so  the  great 
Industrial  Rat-trap  has  shut  up  since  I  saw  you 
last,  has  it  ?  " 

"Yes,"  I  replied;  "it  didn't  succeed." 

Rich  laughed,  and  said,  "  Blusterson  couldn't 
make  it  go,  and  so  he  went  himself,  hey?  And 
they  say  that  more  than  one  old  State  Street  rat 
got  caught  when  the  trap  shut  up." 

Although  I  knew  Blusterson's  business  methods 
were  open  to  criticism,  yet  I  did  not  like  to  have 
him  made  the  subject  of  ridicule  by  the  man  who 
had  induced  me  to  enter  his  service,  and  so  made 
no  reply,  but  changed  the  subject  by  asking  Mr. 
Rich  as  to  the  advisability  of  my  going  into  the 
army  again. 

"See  here,"  interrupted  Ivory,  "I'm  not  going 
to  give  you  any  advice  about  it,  so  don't  ask  mi/ 
opinion  !  If  you  make  up  your  mind  to  go,  I'll 
do  the  best  I  can  to  get  you  a  commission.  I 
know  Governor  Andrew  well  enough  to  ask  such 
a  favor  for  a  deserving  young  fellow  who  has  seen 

service.     My  boy  is  going  out  in  the th ;  and 

I  don't  suppose  it  will  do  any  more  good  for  me 
to  try  to  persuade  you  not  to  go,  than  it  has  for 
me  to  argue  with  him." 

"  I  don't  think  you  would  hinder  him,"  said 
Grim  shrewdly,  "  if  you  could." 

Lawyer  Rich  made  no  direct  answer,  but  said, 


/  HAVE   THE    WAR  FEVER.  97 

as  he  began  to  walk  the  floor,  as  Grim  afterwards 
said,  "  like  a  lion  in  its  cage,"  "  To  tell  the  truth, 
if  it  wasn't  for  my  family  and  business  I'd  go 
myself."  Then  stepping  in  front  of  Grim,  added 
emphatically,  "  Such  men  as  you  make  me  ashamed 
of  my  shallow  patriotism!  This  country  won't  be 
worth  living  in  if  the  rebs  beat  us  in  the  war  !  " 

Hewitt,  who  up  to  this  time  had  been  only  a 
listener,  here  remarked  sarcastically,  "  Rich,  if 
you  folks  don't  let  the  South  alone,  it's  my  opin- 
ion that  the  licking  you  have  got  so  far  will  be  a 
small  circumstance  to  what  ye'll  git  before  ye  are 
through  !     It's  all  politics,  this  war  is,  anyway." 

Grim  here  turned  towards  the  speaker  sharply, 
and,  with  a  smile  on  his  face  not  unlike  the  expres- 
sion of  a  bull-dog  when  preparing  to  bite,  said,  — 

""  See  here  !  excuse  me  for  speaking  before  I'm 
spoken  to ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  this  war  and 
politics  have  now  got  to  be,  as  Daniel  Webster 
said  of  liberty  and  union,  '  one  and  inseparable.' 
Just  as  'tis  in  my  dog;  I  can't  tread  on  his  tail 
but  that  the  war  end  of  him,  as  you  might  call  it, 
turns  around  and  snarls  and  bites." 

"  That's  it  exactly,"  said  Rich  with  an  approv- 
ing laugh.  "  They  are  like  the  Siamese  twins 
they  had  on  exhibition  down  here  on  Washington 
Street;  you  couldn't  pinch  one  of  them  but  the 
other  one  would  holler." 

"  Well,"  said  Hewitt,  "  I  believe  it's  a  good 
idea  for  people  to  attend  to  their  own  business, 


98  JACK  ALDEN. 

and  let  their  neighbors'  affairs  alone.  If  you 
Black  Republicans  hadn't  been  stirring  up  the 
Southerners,  —  interfering  with  their  niggers  all 
the  time,  —  you  wouldn't  have  had  this  trouble. 
Now  you've  got  Abe  Lincoln  and  the  abolitionists 
and  a  war  on  your  hands  all  at  the  same  time." 

"  See  here,  sir,"  said  Grim,  still  preserving  his 
bull-dog  smile,  "  I  guess  you're  one  of  the  kind 
of  men  they  call  Copperheads!  And  it  seems  to 
me  that  we  need  to  clear  such  men  out  of  the 
country  first.  We  think  it's  a  bad  plan  in  the 
army  to  leave  an  enemy  sneaking  in  the  rear 
while  we  are  fighting  at  the  front.  Seems  to  me, 
any  one  with  the  sense  of  decency  that  a  man 
ought  to  have,  would  take  hold  and  help  when  his 
own  people  are  in  trouble,  instead  of  acting  as  if 
he  was  glad,  as  you  seem  to  be.  Why  don't  you 
help  the  other  side,  if  you  sympathize  with 
them  ?  " 

"  The  abolitionists  have  dissolved  the  Union  by 
their  folly,"  said  Hewitt ;  "  and  now  "  — 

"  Humph ! "  growled  Ivory  Rich  like  a  good- 
natured  lion.  "  You  are  old  enough  to  know 
better  than  to  talk  like  that,  Hewitt !  I'm  not 
going  to  have  it  in  my  office,  either !  I'll  throw 
you  out  of  the  window  if  you  spit  out  such  stuff 
here." 

At  this,  Hewitt  rushed  out  of  the  office,  slam- 
ming the  door  after  him. 

"  A  good  man  in  a  way,  but  so  full  of  secesh 


/  HAVE   THE    WAR   FEVER.  99 

poison,  that  I  shouldn't  be  surprised  if  he  bit  him- 
self some  day,  as  some  kinds  of  snakes  are  said 
to,  and  died  of  liis  own  poison ;  he'll  never  dare  to 
bite  any  one  but  himself,  anyway,"  said  Rich  med- 
itatively. 

After  Grim  had  given  some  interesting  descrip- 
tions of  fighting  on  the  Peninsula,  and  as  we  were 
leaving  the  office.  Ivory  Rich  said  to  me,  — 

"  Oh !  I  saw  that  pirate  of  an  uncle  of  yours  ; 
he  came  in  here  to  get  legal  advice  about  some 
notes  he  don't  want  to  pay.  I  guess  he'll  consent 
to  your  folks  selling  enough  of  your  farm  to  pay 
off  the  mortgage  he  holds,  although  he  wouldn't 
say  so.  Tell  your  brother  to  go  ahead  and  sell  it ; 
I'll  back  him.  Sha'n't  cost  him  anything  for  my 
fees,  either.     I'll  do  that  much  for  you." 

That  night  I  spent  with  Grim,  talking  very 
late;  and  it  was  agreed  that  I  should  return  to 
Centerboro',  and  recruit  as  many  of  my  acquaint- 
ances as  possible  for  the  regiment. 

"  Did  I  tell  you,"  said  Grim,  wliile  accompany- 
ing me  to  the  station  the  next  morning,  "  that 
the  young  fellow  that  blowed  the  trombone  in  the 
Sixth  —  what's  his  name?  —  is  in  my  company?" 

"  I  guess,"  I  suggested,  "  that  you  mean  Add 
Key!" 

"  Yes ;  that's  his  name,"  said  Grim  apologetically. 
"  I  ought  to  have  remembered  his  name ;  he's  one 
of  my  sergeants.  He  said  he  got  enough  of  in- 
strumental fighting   at   Baltimore,  first  time  try- 


100  JACK  ALDEN. 

ing ;  said  since  he  heard  a  mule  conceit  down  on 
the  Chickahominy,  he'd  lost  all  conceit  for  army 
music,  and  wouldn't  set  up  to  beat  it ; "  and  Grim 
gave  one  of  his  low  chuckles,  which  showed  that 
he  appreciated  the  funny  side  of  Add's  character. 

He  afterwards  added,  in  reply  to  a  question  I 
asked,  him  regarding  Add,  "  Yes,  he  fights  like 
a  day's  work  ;  he's  full  of  nonsense,  but  he's  just 
as  full  of  fighting,  and  makes  a  pretty  good  non- 
commissioned officer  too." 

On  my  arrival  in  Centerboro',  my  mother  again 
gave  a  reluctant  consent  to  my  enlistment.  I  did 
not  at  once  give  up  my  place  in  the  grocery,  but 
continued  my  duties  for  a  while,  as  it  brought  me 
in  contact  with  many  young  men  of  the  village, 
whom  I  influenced  to  enter  the  service. 

I  had  recruited  about  twenty  men  in  four  weeks, 
when  Grim  came  out  to  Centerboro'  to  see  how  I 
was  getting  on. 

He  was  much  pleased  with  what  I  had  done, 
and  showed  me  an  order  he  had  just  received, 
directing  him  to  join  the  regiment  with  such  re- 
cruits as  were  enlisted  up  to  that  time.  "  Looks 
as  if  they  expected  some  work  this  fall,"  said 
Grim.  "  And  I  suppose  you've  got  a  stiff  upper 
I'ip  for  it." 


WITH   THE  ARMY  IN   THE  FIELD.        101 


CHAPTER  X. 

WITH    THE    ARMY   IN    THE   FIELD. 

We  arrived  in  Boston,  and  were  sworn  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States  on  the  15th  of  August, 
1862.  As  a  reward  for  my  recruiting  services,  and 
because  I  understood  the  drill,  I  was  given  the 
position  of  sergeant. 

"A  good  substantial  set  of  men,  Alden,"  said 
Captain  Grim  with  a  glance  of  satisfaction,  as  the 
recruits  one  after  another  stepped  up  and  signed 
the  papers.  "  Who,"  he  inquired,  as  a  magnificent 
specimen  of  young  manhood  came  forward,  "  is 
that  man  ?  " 

"  That,"  I  replied,  "  is  George  Standish,  a  lineal 
descendant  of  Miles  Standish.  He  is  well  edu- 
cated. The  recruits  from  Centerboro',''  I  said 
proudly,  "are  all  educated.  Notice  the  signa- 
tures." 

"  If  that  Standish  fellow's  looks  don't  belie 
him,"  said  Captain  Grim,  "he'll  make  a  first-class 
man.  These  recruits  I've  brought  in  from  Spin- 
dleville  are  all  sorts.  Some  Irish,  some  German, 
some  English  ;  pretty  good  stuff,  though  !  " 

Captain  Grim's  manner  was  more  reserved  to- 


102  JACK  ALDEN. 

wards  these  recruits  than  I  liked ;  and  his  way  of 
looking  the  men  over  and  commenting  on  them, 
as  if  they  were  so  much  iron  or  steel  to  be  worked 
up,  grated  on  me.  For  the  men,  at  least  those 
who  had  been  recruited  at  Centerboro',  were  most 
of  them  sons  of  well-to-do  mechanics  or  farmers,  or 
small  manufacturers,  and  socially  many  were  the 
superiors  of  Captain  Grim. 

"  See  that  little  fellow  ?  I  recruited  him  for  a 
drummer ;  lie's  as  chipper  as  you  please,  and  as 
bright  as  a  dollar  !  "  And  Grim  pointed  to  a  boy 
about  ten  years  of  age. 

I  was  set  to  work  at  once  drilling  the  men  in 
their  facings  and  the  manual  of  arms  and  company 
evolutions. 

The  first  day  that  I  drilled  them  in  the  manual 
of  arms,  my  captain  was  for  a  while  a  silent  looker- 
on.  I  soon  discovered,  however,  by  the  expression 
of  his  face,  that  there  was  something  about  my  in- 
structions that  did  not  suit  him.  I  therefore  halted 
and  dressed  the  men,  and,  saluting,  said  to  him, 
"  Have  you  any  orders,  sir?  " 

"  Your  work  is  good  enough,"  he  replied,  "  as 
far  as  it  goes.  Sergeant ;  but  you  must  put  more 
snap  into  it !  Sort  of  start  them  out  of  their 
boots.  This  way !  "  And  he  took  the  musket 
from  me,  giving  the  command,  "  Shoulder  arms  !  " 
This  he  brought  out  by  giving  a  long-drawn  in- 
tonation to  the  first  or  precautionary  word,  and  to 
the  last  word,  the  command  of  execution,  by  sud- 


WITH   THE   ARMY  IN   THE   FIELD.        103 

deiily  forcing  the  breath  from  his  lungs,  and  pro- 
nouncing it  as  if  it  was  spelled  "  harms  !  " 

"  Seize  the  muskets,"  he  cried,  "  as  if  you  had 
steel  springs  in  you !  Make  them  rattle  !  "  And 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  he  gave  the  com- 
mands, and  went  through  the  drill  with  the  men. 
After  thus  drilling  the  squad  for  a  while,  lie 
turned  them  over  to  me,  and  I  continued  the 
work,  somewhat  chagrined,  since  I  believed  I 
knew  how  to  drill. 

The  captain  must  have  seen  a  reflection  of  my 
feelings  and  thoughts  in  my  face ;  for,  after  a 
while,  he  said  to  me  in  an  undertone,  "  The 
men  are  taking  it  up  in  great  shape.  You  under- 
stand the  tactics  first-rate,  Alden.  My  criticism 
is  simply  'bout  the  style.  Our  colonel,  you  see, 
is  particular  'bout  that ;  and  it's  better  to  begin 
right,  so  as  not  to  have  to  learn  it  all  over." 

In  a  few  more  days  of  drill  I  caught  the 
"  style,"  as  Grim  called  it,  and  succeeded  in  com- 
municating it  to  the  men.  We  were  doing  ver}^ 
well ;  and  after  a  week's  work  the  captain  said,  as 
I  turned  over  the  squad  to  him,  "  You've  caught 
it!  That's  the  kind  of  snap  you  must  put  into 
drill.     The  men  have  got  snap  enough  now." 

Some  of  the  men  overheard  the  remark ;  and, 
although  the  compliment  pleased  them,  they,  from 
that  time,  nicknamed  the  captain  "  Old  Snap." 

This  was  during  the  latter  part  of  August,  1862, 
when  the  newspapers  were  teeming  with  vague 


104  JACK  ALDEN. 

hints  of  anticipated  movements  ;  among  them,  that 
General  Pope  was  about  to  supersede  McClellan, 
and  close  the  war. 

Not  long  after  this,  Captain  Grim  came  into  the 
barracks,  where  we  were  finishing  the  morning 
drill.  At  his  request  I  halted  and  faced  the 
men,  when  the  captain  said  to  them,  "  Men  !  hold 
yourselves  in  readiness  to  move  at  any  moment. 
Three  days'  cooked  rations  will  be  issued  to  you 
at  once  ;  write  or  telegraph  to  your  friends,  if  you 
wish  to  see  them :  there  will  be  no  passes  given." 

That  day  there  was  polishing  of  buttons  and 
boots  and  straps.  Before  long,  friends  and  rela- 
tives thronged  the  barracks  to  see  us  off,  and  to 
say  good-by.  Among  those  who  came  were  my 
mother  and  sisters ;  and  somehow  my  attempts  to 
cheer  them  stuck  in  my  throat  as  never  before. 

The  mother  of  little  Mike,  the  drummer,  came 
to  see  him.  She  was  a  poor  little  woman ;  and 
at  parting  she  took  him  in  her  arms,  and,  turning 
to  me,  said,  "  Be  good  to  me  b'y?  and  may  God 
and  the  saints  be  good  to  you !  "  Thus  saying 
she  turned  her  back  on  him  resolutely,  and  went 
her  way. 

At  last  we  embarked  on  the  cars,  and  with  a 
snort  from  the  engine,  and  rattle  of  the  cars, 
we  were  on  our  way  to  that  unknown  field,  "  the 
front." 

When  we  arrived  at  Baltimore,  and  had  crossed 
the    city   to    the   Camden-street   Station,  Captain 


WITH  THE  ARMY  IN   THE  FIELD.       105 

Grim  told  me  tliat  there  would  be  a  delay  of 
several  hours  before  we  could  get  transportation, 
and  added,  "  You  can  run  up  town  and  see  your 
friends  here,  if  you  want  to.  Corporal  Standish 
can  take  charge  of  the  men  of  3'onr  squad." 

This  was  doubly  gratifying,  from  the  fact  that 
it  gave  me  a  chance  to  see  my  friends,  and  con- 
veyed to  me,  for  the  first  time,  the  information 
that  my  friend  George  Standish  was  to  receive 
a  billet  as  a  corporal  of  the  companj^ 

As  I  approached  familiar  localities,  I  found  my 
heart  throbbing  like  drum-beats  in  anticipation  of 
meeting  the  doctor  and  his  fair  daughter,  whom  I 
had  heard  from  but  once  since  leaving  the  city  in 
1861.  When  I  came  in  sight  of  the  house,  its 
closed  blinds  and  untenanted  look  seemed  to  say, 
"  Not  at  home,"  and  sent  my  expectations  down 
to  zero.  I  rang  the  bell,  however,  and,  after 
waiting  a  while,  impatiently  knocked  on  the  door 
with  my  fist. 

At  last  an  old  servant  came,  and,  opening  the 
door  a  little  way,  finally  recognized  me,  and  in- 
vited me  into  the  sitting-room,  which  was  dark 
and  lonely  enough. 

"  Where's  the  doctor,  Auntie  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"  Dey's  dun  gone,  honey.  Dun'no  whar.  Dun 
gone  out  ob  dat  do'  fur  Washiii'ton,  an'  dey  toted 
a  right  smart  o'  saws  and  knives  an'  lint ;  dey 
wur  in  a  desprit  hurry.  'Pears  like,  'twas  plumb 
foolishness  ;  but  dey's  gone." 


106  JACK  ALDEN. 

From  auntie's  chaos  of  talk  I  finally  learned 
that  they  had  been  gone  three  days,  and  that 
Miss  May  had  gone  with  her  father,  and  there 
was  no  certainty  as  to  when  they  would  return. 
"  When  the  doctor  war  puttin'  up  dem  things. 
Miss  May,  she  war  windin'  little  heaps  o'  cotton, 
and  war  talkin'  larned  words  to  her  farder.  But 
dey's  gone,  honey !  Dey's  gone,  sho'  nuff !  " 
This  she  repeated  deprecatingly,  as  if  I  suspected 
they  were  hidden  somewhere  in  the  house. 

When  I  returned  to  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Station,  I  found  Captain  Grim,  and  the  men  as 
well,  reading  from  newspapers,  and  much  excited 
over  the  news  that  had  just  come  that  a  heavy 
battle  was  being  fought  between  the  forces  under 
Pope  and  the  Rebel  army,  near  Bull  Run. 

"  What  do  you  make  of  the  news.  Captain  ?  " 
I  inquired. 

Captain  Grim  was  coolly  turning  over  his  news- 
paper ;  and  the  only  sign  of  excitement  he  showed 
was,  that  he  worked  his  jaws  on  a  quid  of  tobacco 
like  a  trip-hammer  at  a  forge,  as  he  still  continued 
to  turn  the  paper,  re-scanning  its  columns  as  if  to 
find  an  answer  to  my  question. 

"  Well,"  he  said  finally,  slowly  folding  up  the 
sheet,  "  as  near  as  I  can  make  out,  Pope  is  in  the 
fight,  and  I  guess  several  divisions  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  have  been  moved  from  the  Peninsula. 
The  news  is  rather  jumbled,  but  I  feel  pretty  sure 
of  it.     I  hope  the  rebs  will  catch  it;  but  some  way, 


WITH   THE  ARMY  IN  THE  FIELD.       107 

from  what  I  read,  it  don't  look  like  it.  Old  Stone- 
wall Jackson  is  too  near  Washington,  gobbling  up 
our  trains.  Kinder  looks  to  me  as  if  there'd  be 
another  skedaddle !  It  ain't  any  use  to  hammer 
a  solid  piece  of  iron  with  a  lot  of  small  hammers ! 
Get  'em  all  together,  and  then  strike !  Well, 
maybe  we'll  get  'em,  but  it  don't  look  like  it, 
much." 

In  another  hour  a  train  was  ready,  and  we  were 
off  for  Washington,  where  we  arrived  that  even- 
ing, and  were  marched  to  what  was  called  "  The 
Soldiers'  Retreat."  The  only  appropriateness  we 
could  see  to  this  name  was,  that  after  lying  on  its 
hard  floor,  and  partaking  of  its  salt  junk,  we  were 
not  displeased  to  get  an  early  order  to  retreat 
from  it. 

As  soon  as  it  became  light  enough  we  began 
marching,  with  the  usual  clatter  of  canteens,  and 
the  interference  of  the  butts  of  our  muskets  with 
our  haversacks,  up  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  through 
Georgetown,  and  then  across  the  bridge  into  Vir- 
ginia. 

"Where  are  we  going,  Captain?"  I  inquired. 
"Is  there  a  fight?" 

The  captain,  with  a  surly  smile,  replied,  "  Guess 
we'll  get  enough  of  it,  maybe.  I  got  orders  last 
night  to  rejoin  our  regiment  somewhere  on  the 
road  to  Bull  Run.  They're  at  the  front;  and  if 
we  get  there  in  time,  we'll  get  into  the  fight.  If 
we  don't  find  the  regiment,  they'll  put  us  in  some- 


108  JACK  ALDEN. 

where.  My  opinion  is,  from  what  I  hear,  that  the 
army  is  skedaddling,  though  !  " 

Our  knapsacks,  and  forty  rounds  of  ammuni- 
tion, and  three  days'  rations,  had  become  a  terrible 
load  to  our  men,  who  had  never  made  a  march 
before.  As  the  sun  arose,  it  grew  suffocatingly 
hot,  and  the  sweat  ran  down  our  faces  and  dropped 
upon  the  dusty  Virginia  road. 

"  Take  it  easy,  men ;  and  don't  throw  away 
anything  you  will  be  sorry  for  afterwards,"  com- 
manded Grim,  with  a  half-laugh,  as  the  men  be- 
gan to  throw  away  their  coats  and  overcoats,  extra 
boots,  underclothes,  and  heavy  keepsakes. 

"  You'll  need,"  I  said  to  one  of  the  men,  "  some 
of  that  stuff  you  are  throwing  away." 

"  Let  'em  alone,"  said  Captain  Grim.  "  Noth- 
ing like  a  good  march  to  get  men  down  to  a 
common-sense  outfit.  They'll  get  more  light  on 
what  they  really  need  to-day  than  they  would  in 
a  month's  lying  around  in  barracks  !  " 

Later,  we  encountered  some  dusty  soldiers  com- 
ing in  on  the  road  from  Alexandria.  They  were 
sunburned  and  grimy,  and,  as  Corporal  Standish 
said,  "  the  only  clean  thing  about  them  seemed  to 
be  their  muskets."  Those  gleamed  and  flashed  in 
the  sunlight  like  silver.  As  the}^  marched  along 
the  road  with  easy,  swinging  steps,  and  with 
arms  at  right  shoulder  shift,  they  saluted  us  with 
"Hallo,  recruits!  Stopped  ter  get  yer  paper  col- 
lars   washed,    hey?"       And   with    laughter    and 


f 


A  party  of  stragglers  with  a  wounded  man." 
—  Page  10!). 


WITH   THE  ARMY  IN  THE  FIELD.       109 

talk  in  their  ranks,  they  were  off  in  a  cloud  of 
dust. 

"Gracious!"  exclaimed  one  of  the  Centerboro' 
men.  "See  them  fellers  get  over  the  road!  You 
can't  see  their  heels  for  dirt.     Who  are  they?" 

"  They  are  tough  old  vets  from  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,"  said  Captain  Grim  to  me,  as  if  in  an- 
swer to  the  inquiry. 

I  expressed  some  surprise  and  discouragement 
at  seeing  them  march  past  our  toiling  and  wearied 
men  so  easily. 

"  Oh !  "  said  Grim,  "you'll  get  down  to  it  after 
a  while  ;  takes  time  to  get  your  muscles  up  to 
such  work." 

And  then  I  began  to  realize  what  I  had  not 
fully  comprehended  before,  that  we  were  raw  re- 
cruits, and  not  as  yet  real  soldiers. 

While  we  were  halting  by  the  wayside,  some 
New  York  volunteers  passed  us,  who,  without 
stopping,  informed  us  that  they  had  come  up 
from  Acquia  Creek,  where  they  had  arrived  the 
day  before,  and  wei*e  on  their  way  to  the  front. 

In  the  afternoon  we  besfan  to  meet  baofCTaCTe-wasf- 
ons,  artillery,  caissons,  ambulances  with  wounded 
men,  and  other  indications  of  the  defeat  of  the 
army  under  Pope. 

"  Where  are  ye  goin'  ? "  inquired  a  party  of 
stragglers,  with  a  wounded  man  in  the  midst  of 
them. 

"  Recruits,"  replied  our  captain ;  "  we  belong  to 


110  JACK  ALDEN. 

your  corps,  and  are  going  to  join  our  regiment 
somewhere  at  the  front :  seen  'em  on  the  road,  the 
th  Massachusetts?  " 

"  Cap'n,"  was  the  saucy  reply,  "you  set  right 
down  side  o'  the  road  anywheres,  same's  the  feller 
did  for  the  keyhole  to  his  door  when  he  was  out 
too  late;  they'll  come  along:  the  whole  army's  on 
the  skedaddle  !  "  And  the  skedaddler  disappeared 
down  the  road  in  the  dust. 

The  skies  began  to  darken  as  we  wearily  went 
on,  and  the  heat  grew  more  and  more  suffocating 
as  premature  darkness  enveloped  us  with  the  sti- 
fling atmosphere  of  an  approaching  tempest.  The 
piled-up  clouds,  the  rolling  thunder,  and  the  dark- 
ness, foretold  the  heavy  torrents  that  soon  began 
to  fall,  drenching  our  already  sweat-dampened 
clothing. 

The  roads  were  soon  converted  into  a  compound 
that  for  sticky  perversity  exceeded  anything  that  I 
had  ever  encountered.  Out  of  this  our  feet  were 
laboriously  drawn,  accompanied  by  a  noise  not  un- 
like that  which  uncouth  boys  make  when  eating 
soup.  When  drawn  out  of  the  mud  our  feet  re- 
sembled long,  irregular  loaves  of  raw  sweetbread, 
yellow  and  nasty. 

As  darkness  set  in,  and  the  rain  still  came  down 
in  torrents,  we  picked  our  way  by  the  vivid  flashes 
of  lightning. 

The  roads,  meanwhile,  were  more  and  more 
crowded  by  interminable  files  of  baggage-wagons. 


WITH   THE  ARMY  IN  THE  FIELD.       Ill 

mingled  with  batteries  of  artillery  and  infantry, 
marching  in  the  other  direction.  These  were  met 
by  a  tide  of  stragglers  and  wounded  men  drifting 
from  the  front. 

The  shouts  of  teamsters,  the  orders  of  officers, 
mingling  discordantly  with  peals  of  crashing  thun- 
der and  the  plaintive  chorus  of  hungry  mules,  pro- 
duced a  tumult  in  the  confusion  of  which  it  was 
difficult  to  hear  or  recognize  our  own  men. 

When  we  finally  reached  the  village  of  Fairfax, 
we  found  with  us  only  twenty  of  the  fifty  men 
with  whom  we  left  Washington  that  morning. 
Little  Mike,  our  drummer,  was  among  these ;  for 
he  had  stuck  to  us,  as  Captain  Grim  said,  "as 
tenaciously  as  the  mud." 

At  Fairfax  everything  seemed  in  direst  confu- 
sion. Huge  fires  were  burning  in  every  quarter 
of  the  streets,  and  in  gardens  and  barnyards. 
Around  these  in  the  drenching  rain  stood  or  re- 
clined groups  of  men.  By  the  light  of  the  fires 
could  be  seen  confused  masses  of  ambulances,  ar- 
tillery, and  baggage-wagons,  mingled  with  which 
were  men  from  every  arm  of  the  service,  —  the 
orange  stripes  of  the  engineer,  the  red  of  the 
artillery,  the  yellow  of  the  cavalry,  and  blue  of 
the  infantry. 

These  men  were  breaking  up  fences,  tearing 
down  outbuildings,  and  unhinging  doors  to  re- 
plenish fires  or  to  start  new  ones. 

Officers  and  men  mingled,  invading  barns  and 


112  JACK  ALDEN. 

houses,  making  attempts  to  pitch  their  tents  in 
the  enclosures. 

They  were  men,  as  we  learned  later,  of  different 
corps,  —  some  neither  sick  nor  wounded,  —  who, 
after  the  defeat  of  the  army  at  Bull  Run,  had 
mingled  with  the  escort  of  trains.  These  were 
among  the  stragglers  and  marauders,  although 
most  of  this  host  were  disposed  to  join  their  regi- 
ments at  the  first  favorable  opportunity. 

Captain  Grim  established  a  guard  of  four  men, 
under  Corporal  Standish,  and  by  his  advice  we 
went  to  rest  under  the  shelter  of  an  outbuilding, 
with  the  mud,  as  one  of  our  men  said,  "scrutching" 
up  under  our  rubber  blankets,  Avhich  we  spread 
on  the  ground,  and  with  the  rain  still  pouring. 

In  our  soaked  garments,  we  rolled  ourselves  in 
our  wet  blankets,  and,  with  wet  and  mud-enveloped 
feet  protruding,  went  to  sleep,  tired,  hungry,  and 
dazed. 

I  was  awakened  by  the  clatter  of  a  drum  near 
my  head,  and  was  brought  to  consider  once  more 
whether  the  bubble  of  military  reputation  was 
worth  pursuing  through  so  much  mud.  But  noth- 
ing prevented  us  from  boiling  our  coffee  and 
munching  our  hard-tack  with  good  appetite  and 
satisfaction. 

We  learned,  later  in  the  day,  that  there  had 
been  a  battle  at  Ox  Hill  during  the  night,  in 
which  our  brave  General  Kearney  had  met  his 
death. 


WITH    THE  ARMY  IN   THE  FIELD.        113 

As  day  dawned,  army  trains  and  stragglers 
moved  in  ceaseless  procession  towards  Alexandria, 
while  a  larofe  number  of  men  around  us  started 
out  inquiring  for  their  regiments. 

We,  meanwhile,  under  Grim's  direction,  gath- 
ered most  of  our  men  together,  counted  noses, 
as  Tobin,  one  of  the  Irish  recruits,  called  it,  and 
found  that  only  ten  were  missing.  We  joined 
the  extreme  rear  guard  of  the  army,  and  before 
lonof  found  our  regfiment.  Without  much  more 
ceremony  we,  with  some  veterans,  were  at  once 
detailed  for  picket-duty,  on  a  road  where  it  was 
said  the  enem}^  was  likely  to  come  in  at  any 
moment. 

The  veterans  of  our  regiment  were  worn  out 
with  marching  and  fighting,  and  most  of  them 
slept,  while  the  recruits  stood  guard,  expecting  an 
enemy  in  every  bush  and  behind  every  hill. 

Before  night  we  got  orders  to  take  up  a  retro- 
grade movement,  and  joined  the  throng  moving  on 
all  the  roads  towards  Washington.  The  next  day 
we  got  a  newspaper  that  announced  that  the  army 
was  safe  behind  the  defences  of  Washington. 

Such  was  our  introduction,  from  scenes  of  peace, 
to  the  tumult  of  war,  and  which  is  so  impressed 
upon  my  memory,  that  it  seems  but  an  event  of 
yesterday. 

That  day  all  our  straggling  recruits  but  one 
joined  us,  and  I  was  calling  the  list  of  names, 
when   some    one    slapped    me    familiarly   on   the 


114  JACK  ALDEN. 

shoulder,  exclaiming,  "  Geewhitaker  !  as  sure  as  1 
am  a  hornblower,  if  here  ain't  Jack  Alden  ! " 

It  was  a  soldier,  in  faded,  dirty,  tattered  uni- 
form, and  with  a  not-over-clean,  sunburned  face. 
But  for  his  voice  I  should  not  have  recognized 
him  as  Add.  Among  the  peculiarities  of  his 
outfit  was  a  small  frying-pan  lashed  to  his  lean 
knapsack. 

He  looked  every  inch  a  soldier,  however,  and  I 
was  not  a  little  ashamed  when  he  noticed  my 
sergeant's  chevrons.  Ashamed  because  I  felt 
that  I  was  surrounded  with  brave  and  tried  men, 
who  deserved  more  of  their  country  than  I  did. 

When  I  quizzed  Add  about  his  frying-pan,  he 
scowled  and  said,  — 

"  Why,  I'd  rather  lose  my  whole  outfit  than 
that !  That's  a  whole  kit  in  itself :  a  feller  can 
cook  anything  in  it." 

The  next  forenoon  we  heard  great  cheering 
along  the  line  of  the  army,  and  learned  that  it  was 
caused  by  the  appearance  of  General  McClellan, 
who  was  said  once  more  to  have  assumed  com- 
mand of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

The  veterans  expressed  great  satisfaction  at  this 
event,  and,  as  Add  said,  "It  gives  the  boys  a 
new  backbone  I  They  don't  take  much  stock  in 
Pope,  anyway." 


A    RECRUIT  ON   THE  MARCH.  115 


CHAPTER   XL 

A   RECRUIT   ON   THE   MARCH. 

The  next  morning  we  went  into  camp  on  the 
high  land  near  and  south  of  the  Potomac.  The 
veteran  members  of  our  regiment  passed  the  day 
in  cooking,  washing,  cleaning  their  muskets,  sleep- 
ing, and  grumbling  about  Pope. 

"  Our  old  boys,"  said  Add,  "  lay  in  a  stock  of 
sleep  and  do  their  grumbling  at  such  times  as 
these  !  " 

The  recruits,  on  their  part,  nursed  their  sore 
feet  and  the  chafed  spots  which  had  accumulated 
plentifully  on  their  persons  since  starting  out,  and 
cultivated  the  acquaintance  of  the  elder  members 
of  the  regiment. 

The  veterans  expressed  great  satisfaction  at 
once  more  being  in  the  vicinity  of  Washington. 
Some  thought  they  might  get  passes  into  the  city, 
but  were  peremptorily  refused  by  their  officers. 

I  could. see  but  little  ground  for  the  enthusiastic 
satisfaction  expressed,  for  these  veterans  certainly 
showed  signs  of  hard  campaigning.  Some  were 
in  tattered  clothing,  others  destitute  of  shoes  or 
stockings,  and  all  wore  threadbare  and  faded  uni- 


116  JACK  ALDEN. 

forms,  while  their  clothing  was  infested  by  in- 
vaders that  disgusted  the  recruits. 

Some  of  them  had  reminders  of  the  Peninsula 
Campaign  in  the  shape  of  chills  and  fever ; 
others  were  thin  and  pinched  with  diarrhoea  or 
the  swamp  fever,  from  which  they  were  scarcely 
convalescent,  or  which  they  had  bravely  with- 
stood without  abandoning  duty.  None  of  them 
had  superfluous  flesh  on  their  bones,  but  most 
had  muscles  like  whipcords,  in  compensation  for 
this  deficiency. 

I  made  a  remark,  embodying  something  of  these 
observations  and  reflections,  to  Add,  who  replied, 
"  Well,  yes,  they  are  regular  fighting  and  march- 
ing machines ;  and  if  they  had  not  been.  Pope 
would  have  got  left  worse  than  he  did." 

Contrasting  with  these  ragged  battalions  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  there  came  well-dressed, 
tinselled  officers  from  Washington.  Luxurious 
carriages  filled  with  fashionably  dressed  men,  and 
fair  women  with  fresh,  beautiful  faces,  rolled  along 
the  magnificent  wood-skirted  drives,  near  the 
camps,  —  if  the  collection  of  little  dog-tents  could 
be  called  such.  Thus  the  squalor  of  "  grim- 
visaged  war"  was  contrasted  with  the  luxuries 
and  refinements  of  civil  life. 

Wood  and  water  were  plenty  ;  and  the  veterans 
expressed  satisfaction  on  that  score,  as  well  as  at 
the  opportunity  afforded  for  rest,  and  a  chance 
to  buy  pies  and  cakes  and  other  goodies,  and  to 


A   RECRUIT  ON   THE  MARCH.  117 

cook  strange  messes  in  their  half-canteens  and 
tins. 

Our  rest  proved,  however,  of  but  short  dura- 
tion ;  Uncle  Sam  had  other  uses  for  his  children 
in  blue  than  indulging  them  in  even  a  moderately 
good  time. 

On  the  4th  of  September  the  army,  under  their 
faded  and  bullet-scarred  flags,  marched  into  Mary- 
land, once  more  to  battle  with  the  enemy  who  had 
crossed  into  that  State. 

The  soldiers  of  our  regiment,  at  the  time  of  our 
coming,  consisted  of  what  might  be  called  sifted 
men.  The  great  sieve  of  war  had  winnowed  away 
its  chaff  of  weak,  faint-hearted,  or  cowardly  men, 
until  by  "  natural  selection "  of  campaigning, 
battle,  and  hardships,  only  the  choicest  of  its  mem- 
bers had  remained.  Most  of  them  were  beardless 
boys,  many  of  my  own  age,  some  even  younger, 
though  all  were  toughened  veterans.  Fighting, 
hard  fare,  and  wearisome  marches,  had  left  set 
lines  on  their  young  but  weatherbeaten  faces. 

Over  these  men  Captain  Grim  had  gained  a 
marked  supremacy.  His  fitness  for  his  position 
had  been  vindicated  by  the  best  of  all  tests,  — 
service  in  the  field.  He  had  been  proved  brave 
and  tenacious,  but  not  foolhardy.  He  was  cau- 
tious, yet  bold  when  circumstances  demanded  it, 
and  had  gained  the  reputation  among  his  men  of 
never  sending  them  to  places  of  danger  where  he 
was  not  willing  to  lead. 


118  JACK  ALDEN. 

Our  first  lieutenant,  Elbridge  Mason,  was  a 
young,  beardless  fellow,  not  over  eighteen,  but 
every  inch  a  soldier.  It  was  some  time  before  I 
recognized  in  him  my  former  school  and  shop 
acquaintance,  the  son  of  Widow  Mason.  The 
personnel  of  the  rank  and  file  was  of  the  very 
best.  All  of  these  young  men  had  a  common- 
school,  some  of  them  an  academic,  education,  and 
they  were  mostly  the  sons  of  thrifty  mechanics 
or  small  manufacturers  from  the  towns  around 
Boston.  Some  of  the  more  mature  men  had  left 
good  positions  in  civil  life  to  serve  in  the  ranks. 

One  of  our  sergeants,  named  Scott,  had  been  a 
locomotive  engineer.  Another,  Jack  Hale,  a  tall, 
swarthy  fellow,  had  been  a  school-teacher.  Add, 
our  fourth  sergeant,  was  intelligent,  and  had  a 
fair  education  "  in  streaks,"  as  he  said.  He  was 
reputed  to  be  brave  ;  but  one  of  our  older  privates 
remarked  in  my  hearing,  that  he  was  rather  too 
fond  of  skylarking  and  fun  to  exact  obedience 
from  the  men,  or  to  go  higher  in  rank. 

The  orderly-sergeant  of  the  company  was  my 
old  friend  Crandall,  or,  as  he  was  familiarly 
known  in  the  company,  "  Father  Crandall."  I 
soon  discovered  that  the  sobriquet  was  justly  ac- 
quired, for  he  regarded  the  men  of  the  company 
as  his  family,  in  whose  welfare  he  was  interested, 
and  for  whose  acts  he  held  himself  responsible  to 
his  superiors.  He  was  constant  in  his  efforts  for 
their  comfort,  and  the  quartermaster  and  commis- 


A    RECRUIT  OiY  THE  MARCH.  110 

sary  of  the  regiment  had  no  desirable  supplies  of 
which  he  did  not  succeed  in  obtaining  a  share  for 
the  boys.  Although  he  had  not  a  very  militar}^ 
appearance,  he  was  a  good  disciplinarian,  and  his 
temper  was  as  even  as  his  will  was  inflexible.  His 
ideas  of  duty  were  such,  that  while  he  made  many 
allowances  for  tried  and  proved  men,  he  would 
allow  no  flinching  from  actual  duty.  Among  our 
new  recruits  who  received  billets  was  Standish, 
whom  I  have  mentioned,  and  of  whom  the  captain 
had  formed  a  high  opinion. 

The  personnel  of  the  original  officers  and  men 
was  also  very  high.  They  were  men  who  had  en- 
listed from  patriotic  desires  to  save  the  Union,  and 
not  for  the  paltry  pittance  given  them  for  pay. 
They  were  the  best  types  of  our  Northern  man- 
hood, who,  when  called  upon  for  dangerous  or  des- 
perate duty,  were  actuated  by  pride  and  self-esteem 
to  acquit  themselves  in  an  honorable  and  spirited 
manner. 

I  for  the  first  time  fully  appreciated  the  honor 
attained  by  my  captain  in  commanding  such  men ; 
and  by  coming  in  contact  with  them,  I  learned 
that  in  point  of  knowledge  and  service,  there  were 
those  then  in  the  ranks  who  better  deserved  a  ser- 
geant's billet  than  myself. 

After  being  corrected  for  two  or  three  blunders 
made  in  drill,  in  a  fit  of  humility  I  went  to  Cap- 
tain Grim,  and  said,  "  Captain,  I  am  barely  scA^en- 
teen,  and  can  now  see   that  I   should   not   have 


120  JACK  ALDEN. 

accepted  a  sergeant's  billet  among  so  many  men 
better  educated  and  better  qualified  for  the  place. 
I  want  to  resign,  and  step  into  the  ranks,  until  I 
am  better  able  to  fill  such  a  place." 

The  captain  listened  gravely  and  replied,  "  Ser- 
geant Alden,  I  have  thought  of  all  you  have  said 
long  ago  ;  I,  and  not  you,  am  the  one  to  judge  of 
your  fitness.  A  good  soldier  obeys  orders ;  de- 
fers to  his  superiors  ;  when  I  see  that  you  are  not 
the  right  man  for  the  place  you  hold,  I'll  reduce 
you  without  fear  or  favor.  Lieutenant  Mason  is 
young,  but  he  is  one  of  our  best  officers." 

I  saw  that  he  meant  this,  and  felt  the  flattery, 
though  I  winced  at  the  thought  that  he  might 
reduce  or  punish  me  if  found  wanting  or  insubor- 
dinate. 

I  saluted,  and  was  retiring,  when  the  captain 
added,  "  Alden,  every  man  must  do  his  duty  now, 
and  more,  for  the  country  has  never  been  in 
greater  danger !  Go  to  your  quarters,  and  do  the 
best  you  can."  This  was  said  with  such  a  tone 
of  dignity,  that  I  retired  with  increased  respect, 
and  a  sort  of  awe,  for  this  New  England  mechanic 
who  had  once  been  my  familiar  acquaintance,  and 
to  whom  the  responsibilities  of  his  position  had 
seemed  to  give  a  stronger  and  graver  manhood 
than  years  of  citizen's  life  could  do. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  8th  of  September  we 
had  pitched  our  little  dog-tents  by  the  roadside  in 
Maryland,    We  had  marched  not  over  seven  miles 


"See  here,  you  raw  recruits  I     Beef  taller's  good  for  tlieni 

sore  heels." 

—  rage  121. 


A   RECRUIT  ON  THE  MARCH.  121 

a  da}^  since  starting  out  from  the  Potomac,  but 
my  person  had  become  just  so  many  square  inches 
of  ache,  and  my  feet  were  blistered  and  in  a  con- 
dition of  excruciating  soreness.  I  kept  my  hurts 
to  myself,  however,  trusting  that  in  time  I  should 
become  accustomed  to  marching.  Other  raw  re- 
cruits of  the  company  complained  as  I  should  have 
done  but  for  my  pride. 

"  Do  well  'nuff  fer  you,"  whined  a  little  Irish 
boy  named  Tobin,  from  Centerboro' ;  "  you've  been 
there  before!  Jist  look  at  the  blisters  on  the 
heels  and  toes  of  me  !  Now,  fer  the  love  o'  the 
saints,  how  am  I  ever  to  march  with  the  same  ? 
An'  the  ole  byes  all  the  time  saying,  '  It's  delight- 
ful to  march  in  Maryland !  '  Sure,  I'm  rolling  in 
a  profusion  of  such  delights  ;  I'll  give  mine  to 
some  distitute  feller  that  needs  'em  !  " 

"  You  are  as  old  and  tough  as  I  am,"  I  replied, 
as  I  kicked  off  my  boots  and  proceeded,  for  em- 
phasis and  illustration,  to  wash  my  raw  heels  and 
blistered  toes.  "  It  won't  do  to  let  those  old  vets 
have  the  laugh  or  joke  on  us ;  just  grin  and  bear 
it  like  a  man,  and  don't  whine,  Tobin." 

"  Well,"  said  Add,  who,  unperceived,  had  come 
up  with  a  broad  grin,  "  the}^  are  just  perfect  sor- 
rors  to  yer,  ain't  they,  Alden  ?  See  here,"  he 
added,  "  you  raw  recruits  !  Beef  taller's  good  for 
them  sore  heels,  and  put  some  on't  on  the  counter 
of  the  shoes,  to  limber  'em  up.  They'll  come 
'round,  them  feet  will,  in  a  few  days.     An'  you 


122  JACK  ALDEN. 

young  squealer,"  addressing  Tobin,  "  I  guess  I 
know  something  'bout  sore  toes !  I've  got  the 
worst  set  o'  corns  in  the  whole  regiment,  —  achers 
of  'em.  You  can  squeal  if  you  want  to,  Tobin,  but 
I  guess  you  won't  get  much  sympathy.  'Tain't 
manly  to  coddle  any  one  in  the  army.  We  have 
to  get  as  hard  as  flint.  If  you  want  sympathy, 
bear  everything,  and  say  nothin',  like  a  man ; 
then  the  old  vets  will  respect  yer!  Then  when 
yer  can't  stand  it  any  longer,  straggle  —  that's  re- 
spectable ;  squealing  ain't." 

"  Say  nothing,"  said  Tobin ;  "  we  ain't  going  to 
let  them  vets  hear  us  squeak."  Add  gave  me  a 
complimentary  nod,  and  continued,  "  The  boys  say, 
Alden,  that  you  wanted  to  give  up  your  place  as 
sergeant ;  said  you  thought  some  of  the  vets  de- 
served it  more  than  you  did." 

I  looked  up  angrily,  for  my  interview  with  Cap- 
tain Grim  had  hurt  my  pride,  by  giving  me  an 
even  smaller  opinion  of  myself  than  I  had  before. 

"Oh,"  said  Add,  "you  needn't  look  at  me  in 
that  wa}' !  The  boys  like  yer  all  the  better  for 
not  thinking  too  much  of  yourself." 

"  I  haven't  said  I  didn't  think  well  of  myself," 
I  replied  stiffly. 

"  Well,  ye'r  foolish  to  try  and  throw  a  ser- 
geant's billet  over  yer  shoulder.  I'd  take  any 
place,  short  of  commander  of  the  array;  even  a 
brigadier-general's  place,  with  an  ambulance  to 
ride  in  and  to  carry  good  things.     Don't  throw 


A   RECRUIT  ON  THE  MARCH.  123 

anythiyig  over  yer  shoulder,  I  say.  The  captain 
said  he'd  break  yer  if  yer  deserved  it,  and  he  will. 
Captain  Grim?  Why,  he's  an  old  fighting  cock! 
Yer  ought  to  seen  him  at  Glendale.  He  booted 
one  of  them  young  rebs  that  got  among  the  bat- 
tery we  was  supporting.  Give  him  an  awful  kick, 
and  yelled  out  as  he  kicked,  '  Go  home,'  as  if  he 
was  too  small  and  young  for  his  powder." 

"I  suppose,"  I  inquired,  "the  rebels  fight 
well  ?  " 

"I  ain't  laid  up  nothin'  'gainst  them  on  that 
head,"  said  Add,  laughing.  As  he  moved  off  he 
added  to  Tobin,  "  Well,  grease  up  your  shoes,  and 
don't  squeal,  whatever  you  do." 

As  we  advanced  into  Maryland,  reorganization 
of  the  army  went  on,  and,  as  some  one  has  said, 
"  all  the  faster  because  of  our  slow  marches." 

We  had  halted  on  the  afternoon  of  the  13th  of 
September,  I  think  it  was,  and  had  gone  into  camp 
a  few  miles  from  Frederick  City.  The  country 
through  which  we  had  marched  sliowed  every 
evidence  of  thrift  and  prosperity.  Well-dressed 
women,  clean  children,  and  polite  men  had  greeted 
us  at  almost  every  farmhouse  and  hamlet  along 
the  route.  The  number  of  black  laborers  excited 
my  surprise.  The  Union  flag  was  displayed  on 
buildings,  and  Union  sentiments  were  generally 
expressed  by  the  people,  with  the  occasional  ex- 
ception of  a  sullen  old  planter  whose  sons  were  in 
the  Rebel  army. 


124  JACK  ALDEN. 

The  delight  of  the  veterans  with  Maryland  was 
enthusiastic.  They  never  foraged  if  they  had 
money  to  buy  chickens  and  sweet  potatoes.  The 
people  sold  willingly,  but  in  many  instances  would 
not  accept  payment.  The  grist-mills  were  run- 
ning even  on  Sundays,  to  provide  flour  for  the 
unexpectedly  large  call  on  their  stock.  In  the 
houses  along  the  route  sick  Union  soldiers  were 
tenderly  cared  for  by  the  hospitable  people. 

Here,  while  awaiting  orders  for  another  march, 
it  may  be  well  to  see  what  was  taking  place  on 
a  larger  field  than  the  front  of  our  own  regiment. 

After  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  Lee  had  trans- 
ferred the  theatre  of  war  from  the  front  of  Wash- 
ington into  Maryland.  The  harvests  of  the  fertile 
valley  of  the  Shenandoah  had  fallen  into  his  hands, 
and  his  army  had  pressed  confidently  forward,  with 
high  hopes  of  conquest  of  the  free  State,  singing 
as  they  advanced,  — 

"  The  despot's  heel  is  on  thy  shore, 
Maryland,  my  Maryland." 

It  was  not  Lee's  intention,  however,  to  make 
a  direct  move  on  Washington,  but,  after  estab- 
lishing his  communications  with  Richmond  by  way 
of  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  to  make  a  feint  of  mov- 
ing against  Pennsylvania,  lead  McClellan  from 
his  base  of  supplies,  and  then,  after  a  decisive  bat- 
tle, seize  Washington  or  Baltimore,  or  perhaps 
both. 


A   RECRUIT  ON  THE  MARCH.  125 

He  also  hoped  to  recruit  his  ranks  with  enthu- 
siastic young  Marylanders,  and  for  this  purpose 
issued  a  prochimation,  calling  on  her  people  "  to 
throw  off  the  foreign  yoke  and  assume  the  sove- 
reignty of  the  State." 

He  opened  an  office  for  recruiting  in  Frederick 
City. 

The  counties  of  Western  Maryland  were  either 
decidedly  Union  in  sentiment,  or,  at  best,  only 
lukewarm  in  their  disloyalty.  They  did  not  in 
any  case  respond  to  Lee's  call ;  whether  they  did 
not  wish  to  be  redeemed  from  plenty  and  receive 
the  blessings  of  squalor,  rags,  and  destitution  rep- 
resented by  the  Confederates  who  swarmed  her 
soil,  I  do  not  know. 

But  the  results  did  not,  it  was  said,  "  pan  out  " 
largely  for  the  Confederates ;  for  they  lost  more 
soldiers  by  desertion  than  they  gained  by  re- 
cruiting. 

Real  war,  it  must  be  confessed,  seldom  attracts ; 
it  is  the  tinsel  of  fresh  uniforms  and  pomp  of  mar- 
tial music  —  things  but  seldom  known  in  genuine 
war  —  that  draw  young  men  to  enlistment  of- 
fices ;  and  therefore  Marylanders  were  no  excep- 
tion to  a  general  rule  in  humanity,  even  if  hostile 
to  the  Union. 

The  Union  army  had  meanwhile  moved  slowly 
into  Maryland.  The  uncertainty  of  the  enemy's 
intention  made  it  necessary  to  march  cautiously, 
and  to  advance  in  such  order  as  to  keep  Wash- 


126  JACK  ALDEN. 

ington  and  Baltimoie  covered,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  dispose  the  troops  so  as  to  be  able  to  con- 
centrate and  follow  quickly,  should  Lee  take  the 
direction  of  Pennsylvania ;  or  to  defend  Washing- 
ton, if  the  movement  into  Maryland  proved  sim- 
ply a  trick  to  draw  our  forces  from  the  defence  of 
the  national  capital. 

Our  army  was  therefore  so  disposed  as  to  form 
the  circumference  of  a  circle,  described  from  the 
centre  of  Washington,  with  a  radius  of  twenty 
miles,  and  with  an  extension  of  about  twenty- 
five  miles  from  right  to  left. 

Up  to  the  time  of  our  going  into  camp,  as  I  have 
mentioned  in  the  foregoing  narrative,  our  progress 
had  been  slow,  although,  had  it  been  faster,  Heaven 
knows  the  recruits  would  not  have  been  able  to 
keep  up. 

I  was  caring  for  my  blistered  feet,  or,  as  Add 
expressed  it,  "putting  m3-self  on  a  war  footing," 
when  a  colored  boy,  who  had  come,  as  he  said, 
"  All  de  way  from  Fredrick,"  solicited  me  to  buy 
peach-pies.  I  at  once  recognized  him  as  one  of 
the  house-servants  belonging  to  the  Raymonds  of 
Baltimore,  who  had  sometimes  come  to  Dr.  Mil- 
ner's  on  errands  when  I  was  a  wounded  guest 
at  his  house. 

"  Halloo,  Sam !  where  did  you  come  from,  and 
where's  your  master?"  I  exclaimed. 

He  did  not  at  first  recognize  me,  or  pretended 
not  to ;  but  after  a  while  he  exclaimed,  "  Golly  !  I 


A    RECRUIT  ON   THE  MARCH.  127 

believe  youse  cle  Yankee  soldier  dat  war  dar 
at  Massa  Milner's.  I  'clar',  sar,  I  didn't  know 
yerl 

"Where's  your  master?"  I  inquired  again;  for 
as  he  was  Raymond's  body-servant,  I  suspected  liis 
master  or  some  of  the  Raymonds  could  not  be  far 
ofe. 

Sam  answered  evasively,  "  Can't  keep  de  run 
of  de  quality  folks  dese  times." 

Something  in  Sam's  manner,  however,  told  me 
that  he  not  only  knew  where  his  master  was,  but 
that  he  was  near  by. 

In  the  afternoon,  near  a  farmhouse  where  a  legi- 
ment  of  our  brigade  had  stacked  their  muskets,  I 
saw  a  young  fellow  come  up  with  a  bundle  of 
newspapers,  and  rushed  with  others  to  buy  one. 

As  I  paid  for  my  paper,  I  noticed  that  the  man 
who  sold  them  had  the  hands  of  one  unaccustomed 
to  work,  although  his  clothing  was  that  of  a  la- 
borer. A  soft  felt  hat  was  pulled  down  over  his 
face.  While  watching  him  I  saw  him  make  a 
gesture  of  command  towards  Sam,  who  at  once 
disappeared  in  the  crowd.  As  I  turned  around 
to  call  out,  the  newsman  too  was  gone.  I  jumped 
at  once  to  the  conclusion  that  the  man  in  disguise 
was  George  Raymond,  whom  I  had  met  in  Balti- 
more at  Doctor  Milner's. 

"What,"  was  the  query  in  my  mind,  "is  this 
young  and  aristocratic  man  doing  in  disguise 
within  the  lines  of  the  Union  army  ?  " 


128  JACK  ALDEN. 

In  the  morning  we  continued  our  march,  but  I 
saw  no  more  of  master  or  servant  at  that  time. 

We  were  now  hurried  forward  much  more  de- 
cisively than  formerly ;  and  the  vets  said  Mc- 
Clellan  had  got  his  plans  well  settled  for  the 
campaign,  and  was  about  to  execute  them. 


ON  THE   VERGE  OF  BATTLE.  129 


CHAPTER    XII. 

ON   THE   VERGE   OF    BATTLE. 

On  the  12th  of  September  our  advance  had 
driven  the  Confederates  from  Frederick  City, 
where,  as  we  afterwards  learned,  they  had  met 
with  but  a  cold   reception. 

Wlien  we  marched  into  the  town,  the  people  ex- 
hibited every  manifestation  of  pleasure.  Women 
wearing  decorations  of  red,  white,  and  blue,  came 
out  on  the  sidewalk,  and  greeted  us  with  enthu- 
siasm. 

"•Thank  God!"  exclaimed  one  old  lady,  when 
referring  to  the  Confederate  army,  "  them  dirty 
thieves  and  sneaks  have  gone !  " 

"  We  are  right  glad,"  said  another,  "  to  see  the 
Union  soldiers  here." 

"  When  the  Confederates  were  here,"  said  a 
citizen  of  Frederick,  "  all  these  shops  that  are 
now  open  were  closed,  and  most  of  the  houses  had 
their  shutters  up." 

Many  other  expressions  of  the  kind  showed 
that  at  least  these  people  of  Maryland  had  not 
responded  to  Lee's  proclamation,  which  called 
upon  them  to    ''throw  off  the  foreign   yoke,"  a§ 


130  JACK  ALDEN. 

the  rule  of  the  Federal  government  was  desig- 
nated. 

"  Just  see,"  exclaimed  Add,  "  the  colors  and 
the  pretty  girls  !  "  We  looked  up,  and  saw  at  the 
windows  of  a  house  a  dozen  or  more  young  ladies 
wearing  miniature  flags ;  and  stretched  across  the 
street  was  displayed  the  national  banner. 

"Isn't  it  fine!"  he  exclaimed.  "These  folks 
seem   human." 

I  didn't  see  anything  in  these  demonstrations 
to  make  a  fuss  over,  and  said  so. 

"Well,  my  boy,"  said  Sergeant  Crandall,  "  that's 
because  you  don't  see  the  contrast  between  these 
people  and  the  people  in  Virginia,  who  acted  as  if 
our  soldiers  were  dirt  under  their  feet !  We  ain't 
accustomed  to  decent  treatment  by  the  people 
where  we're  soldiering,  and  it  seems  kinder  nice 
to  us." 

"  The  Confederate  soldiers  who  were  recruiting 
here,"  said  a  citizen,  "  sang  that  '  the  despot's 
heel  was  on  our  shore,  my  Maryland ; '  but  when 
them  fellers  tried  to  pull  me  into  their  recruiting- 
office,  I  told  them  I  thought  the  Confederate  rule 
liere  was  worse  than  any  Yankee  yoke  weUi  had. 
I  heard  their  officer  say  they  were  losing  more 
men  by  desertion  in  Maryland  than  they  were 
gaining  by  recruiting." 

We  stacked  arms  on  one  of  the  side  streets  of 
this  quaint  but  hospitable  town.  On  the  window- 
sills  of  the  houses  the  people  set  out  a  profusion 


ON   THE    VERGE   OF  BATTLE.  131 

of  cakes,  pies,  bread,  honey,  and  other  eatables, 
such  as  had  not  gladdened  the  sight  of  our  veter- 
ans for  many  a  month. 

Daintily  dressed  women,  with  their  needlework 
in  their  hands,  chatted  pleasantly  with  us,  while 
the  air  was  full  of  the  merry  clack  of  children's 
voices,  in  strong  contrast  to  the  bronzed  faces, 
flashing  arms  and  equipments,  of  our  warlike 
ranks. 

While  sitting  on  a  doorstep,  talking  to  a  nice- 
loof;ing  matron,  telling  her  about  the  Yankee 
country  I  came  from,  and,  I  fear,  unconsciously 
drawing  an  unfavorable  contrast  to  her  own  town, 
I  noticed  a  young  fellow  lounging  near.  He  was 
standing  with  his  back  to  the  house,  with  his  soft 
hat  pulled  down  over  his  eyes,  apparently  listening 
to  my  talk  and  that  of  others,  and  keenly  obser- 
vant of  all  that  was  passing  around  him.  I  should 
have  thought  nothing  of  it,  had  I  not  recognized 
something  familiar'  in  his  manner.  Afterwards  his 
eyes  met  mine  with  a  flash  of  recognition,  and  I 
saw  that  it  was  George  Raymond,  whom  I  have 
mentioned  before. 

He  evidently  saw  that  I  knew  him ;  for,  remov- 
ing his  hat,  he  made  a  gesture,  as  I  thought,  half 
in  defiance  and  half  in  salutation,  and  disap- 
peared. 

"  What's  the  matter,  Alden  ? "  said  Captain 
Grim,  who  stood  near  by.  "  What,"  he  continued, 
as  I  did  not  at  once  reply,  "  do  you  see  so  strange  ? 


132  JACK  ALDEN. 

Wliy,  your  eyes  are  sticking  out  of  your  head  as 
if  you  had  seen  your  grandmother's  ghost ! " 

"  I  saw,"  I  replied,  "  a  young  fellow  I  knew  in 
Baltimore  —  at  Dr.  Milner's.  He  has  just  dodged 
around  that  corner.     He's  an  awful  rebel  too." 

"Shouldn't  M^onder,"  said  Captain  Grim  in  his 
gruff  way,  "  if  there  was  a  lot  more  hanging 
around  here.  Better  be  here  than  with  Lee's 
army,  though." 

"Maybe  he  is  a  spy,"  I  suggested.  "What's  he 
doing  here,  when  he  belongs  in  Baltimore  ?  "     • 

"  Shouldn't  borrow  any  rebs,"  said  Sergeant 
Crandall,  biting  off  a  huge  piece  from  a  hunk 
of  natural-leaf  tobacco.  "  We  kinder  think  we'll 
have  enough  of  'em,  my  boy,  without  the  multi- 
plication-table ;  lots  of  things  show  that  a  fight 
is  brewing." 

"  What,"  I  asked,  "  are  they?  I  don't  see  any  : 
I  haven't  heard  a  gun  fired  anywhere  around 
here." 

"  Well,  that  only  shows  ye  are  green,  my 
boy!  Three  days'  rations,  sixty  rounds  of  car- 
tridges, officers'  horses  and  red-tape  slingers  sent 
to  the  rear,  with  the  orders  we've  had  to  be  ready 
to  march  at  a  moment's  notice,  means  tliat  we  are 
on  the  heels  of  the  Rebel  arni}^,  and  are  going  fur 
'em,  and  that  a  fight  is  expected  at  any  minute. 
That's  the  way  we  read  it,  ain't  it.  Captain  ?  " 

Captain  Grim  nodded,  and  gruffly  grunted  out, 
*'  The  signs  are  iu  the  air,  true  as  yer  live !  " 


ON   THE    VERGE   OF  BATTLE.  133 

In  the  evening  we  went  into  camp  near  the 
town  ;  and,  after  boiling  our  coffee  and  cooking 
our  rations,  men  all  over  the  camp  began  to 
button  together  the  oblong  pieces  of  cotton  cloth, 
one  of  which  was  carried  by  each  man;  then  two 
crotched  sticks  about  four  feet  long  were  driven 
firmly  in  the  ground,  and,  with  a  ridge-pole  ad- 
justed, the  cloth  was  stretched  across  them  for 
a  tent. 

Then,  under  the  stars  of  a  beautiful  September 
night,  while  the  distant  murmurs  of  merriment 
in  the  town  came  to  our  ears,  like  echoes  from 
our  far-away  homes,  taps  sounded,  silence  suc- 
ceeded in  camp,  and  we  slept  the  sleep  of  young 
and  tired  boys. 

It  seemed  to  me'  that  I  was  scarcely  asleep 
before  I  was  awakened  by  the  rattle  of  drums, 
and  the  piercing  notes  of  the  fife,  sounding  the 
reveille.  The  roll  was  called  by  candlelight, 
and  at  break  of  day  we  were  on  the  march. 

That  ni}^  young  readers  may  know  what  was 
taking  place  on  a  wider  field  than  mere  individ- 
ual observations  can  give,  it  is  needful  to  glance 
at  the  operations  of  the  Union  and  Confederate 
armies,  approaching  each  other  in  Maryland. 

As  I  have  said  elsewhere,  it  was  not  General 
Lee's  plan,  after  establishing  his  communications 
by  way  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  to  make  a  di- 
rect attack  upon  Washington,  but  to  so  manoeuvre 
as  to  lead  McClellan  from  the  base  of  his  supplies, 
and  to  uncover  the  national  capital.  < 


134  JACK  ALDEN. 

While  carrying  out  this  plan,  Lee  had  not 
thought  it  necessary  to  go  out  of  his  way  to 
capture  or  drive  away  a  force  of  twelve  thousand 
men  who  garrisoned  at  Harper's  Ferry,  —  as  his 
crossing  above  had  rendered  its  occupation  use- 
less. 

Although  early  in  the  campaign  McClellan 
had  requested  that  these  men  should  join  him  by 
the  easiest  practicable  route,  Halleck  had  insisted 
that  they  should  remain  in  this  turned  and  worse- 
than-useless  position.  The  whole  campaign,  which 
we  are  in  part  describing,  pivots  around  this  fact. 

Imagine  the  astonishment  of  the  rebel  com- 
mander at  learning,  after  his  advance  to  Fred- 
erick City,  that  this  garrison  was  still  in  his  rear. 
He  at  once  determined  to  capture  the  place,  its 
twelve  thousand  defenders,  and  its  munitions  of 
war. 

With  this  in  view,  he  at  once  directed  Jackson 
to  move  across  the  Potomac  by  way  of  Williams- 
port,  to  ascend  from  the  rear  and  attack  the  garri- 
son, while  McLaws  was  to  seize  Maryland  Heights, 
and  a  force  under  Walker  crossed  the  river  and 
seized  the  heights  of  Loudon. 

The  advance  for  this  purpose  began  on  the 
10th  of  September.  The  Confederate  forces  were 
in  the  positions  assigned  on  the  night  of  the  12th. 

The  Union  defenders,  like  rats  in  a  huge  bowl, 
and  with  the  cat's  paws  on  the  edge  thereof,  were 
inevitably  doomed  to  be  captured. 


ON   THE    VERGE   OF  BATTLE.  135 

The  Union  Army  had,  meanwhile,  as  seen  by 
our  previous  description,  arrived  at  Frederick  City. 
Here  there  fell  into  the  hands  of  McClellan,  Lee's 
official  order,  which  fully  disclosed  in  detail  the 
movement  for  the  capture  of  Harper's  Ferry,  and 
to  carry  out  which,  Lee  had  divided  his  forces  in 
the  face  of  his  enemy.  Here  was  an  opportunity 
seldom  offered  to  a  general,  —  the  full  disclosure  of 
his  enemy's  plans. 

To  avail  himself  of  this  division  of  the  enemy, 
McClellan  directed  Franklin,  with  his  corps,  to 
march  at  daybreak  on  the  13th,  and  capture 
Crampton's  Pass. 

It  has  since  been  shown  that  had  he  ordered  the 
march  to  be  made  on  the  evening  previous,  the 
Rebel  army  would  have  been  cut  in  twain,  and 
defeated  in  detail. 

In  war,  time  is  often  of  superior  importance, 
above  even  men  and  means.  Stonewall  Jack- 
son illustrated  his  conception  of  its  importance, 
when,  in  this  emergency,  leaving  General  Hill  to 
receive  the  surrender  of  Harper's  Ferry,  on  the 
night  of  the  15th  he  marched  his  corps  fifteen 
miles,  and  joined  Lee's  army  at  Sharpsburg. 

Meanwhile,  Franklin  had,  after  a  sharp  fight, 
driven  away  the  rebel  defenders  of  Crampton's 
Pass ;  and  if  he  had  debouched  at  once  in  rear 
of  Maryland  Heights,  it  is  doubtful  if  McLaws 
could  have  escaped. 

Such  was  the  situation  when,  on  the  morning  of 


136  JACK  ALDEN. 

the  14th  of  September,  we  hurried  forward,  and 
found  the  Union  army  crowding  all  the  roads  in 
pursuit  of  Lee. 

As  we  marched  four  abreast,  mounted  orderlies 
and  aids,  with  ofificial  envelopes  in  their  belts, 
hurried  back  and  forth  by  the  side  of  our  march- 
ing columns. 

The  cavalry,  the  eyes  of  an  army,  were  scouting 
ahead,  sending  back  reports  as  fast  as  they  learned 
of  the  presence  of  the  enemy. 

At  a  jDlace  where  two  roads  came  together,  we 
encountered  another  body  of  troops ;  and,  as  is 
customary,  when  it  was  learned  that  they  had  or- 
ders to  reach  this  junction  first,  we  marched  into 
a  field,  and  rested  in  place,  waiting  until  this  force 
had  passed. 

Here  a  grizzly-looking  individual,  who  was 
seated  on  a  snake  fence,  remarked,  "  You'll  come 
back  right  soon,  1  reckon,  with  our  folks  after 
yer." 

The  roads  were  narrow,  and  not  of  the  best, 
and  occasionally  were  encumbered  with  wrecked 
wagons  or  broken  artillery  wheels. 

The  increasing  haste  of  ai(^  and  orderlies, 
meanwhile,  showed,  even  to  the  uninitiated,  that 
orders  were  coming  thick  and  fast  to  hurry  up  the 
troops,  and  that  the  enemy  was  not  far  away. 

That  night  we  halted  and  stacked  arms  in  an 
open  field,  and  lay  down  to  rest  with  thoughts  of 
the  impending  battle.  , 


ON   THE    VERGE   OF  BATTLE.  137 

The  next  day  we  crossed  the  range  of  the  Colol- 
tian  Mountains,  and  descended  its  slopes  into  the 
beautiful  Middletown  Valley. 

When  marching  down  the  western  slope,  we 
looked  out  upon  the  landscape,  spread  in  peaceful 
beauty  below  and  around  us.  Looking  towards 
the  north,  we  could  see  the  roads  dotted  with 
white  spots ;  these  were  our  trains.  Dark  col- 
umns of  men,  fringed  with  flashing  steel,  were  seen 
on  all  the  roads,  right  and  left,  winding  along 
the  hillsides,  pouring  over  the  ridges,  and  descend- 
ing by  all  tlie  roads,  furrowing,  as  it  were,  the  land- 
scape with  dark  columns  of  our  army. 

A  mile  or  less  from  us  the  column  had  broken, 
and  formed  for  battle  in  the  fields. 

The  flash  of  sunlight  on  burnished  steel  was 
seen ;  and  moving  columns  and  the  hurry  of 
steeds  made  the  scene  one  of  unusual  fascination. 

As  we  neared  the  opposite  mountain  range,  we 
heard  the  thunder  of  artillery,  and  saw  the  smoke 
of  battle  on  the  hills. 

It  was  the  sound  of  a  conflict,  in  which  the 
Union  troops  were  attempting  to  wrest  the  pas- 
sage through  the  Blue  Ridge  known  as  Turner's 
Gap  from  the  possession  of  the  enemy. 

Later  in  the  day  we  were  marched  up  the  hill 
from  which  there  came  the  sound  of  conflict ; 
and  to  my  relief,  instead  of  being  sent  against 
the  enemy  direct,  we  went  into  a  field,  and  were 
ordered  to  lie  down. 


138  JACK  ALDEN. 

I  said  to  Add,  after  we  had  lain  there  a  while, 
"  What  is  all  this  about  ?  We  don't  seem  to 
be  doing  much  except  lying  on  our  bellies,  with 
noise  all  around  us,  and  a  humming  of  shot  and 
shell  whizzing  over  our  heads !  " 

I  had  scarcely  spoken  these  words  when  I  heard 
a  long-continued  yell  of  hi-hi-hi-i-i-i-i-i^  and  burst- 
ino-  through  the  thicket  in  front  of  us  came* a 
body  of  men. 

"  Fire !  "  came  the  order  from  our  colonel,  and 
then  a  wreath  of  smoke. 

With  heavy,  saddened  heart  I  saw  the  poor 
wounded  Southern  boys  fall  before  this  deadly 
fire,  abandoned  by  their  comrades,  who  had  run 
back  into  the  woods  again. 

The  sight  was  sickening;  and,  although  they 
were  our  country's  enemies,  I  would  have  given 
a  year's  pay  to  have  been  able  to  help  comfort 
them. 

Before  sundown  the  heavy  boom  of  cannon 
and  the  crackle  of  musketry  among  the  hills  had 
ceased. 

We  then  went  forward  to  where  we  had  seen 
the  poor  wounded  fellows  fall.  They  were  piti- 
fully calling  for  water,  as  wounded  men  always 
do.  There  were  a  dozen  or  more  dead,  and  two- 
score  at  least  of  poor  wounded  fellows  clad  in 
butternut  and  gray.  I,  for  one,  helped  and  com- 
forted them,  and  was  very  sad  at  heart.  Their 
faces  were  pinched  and  their  persons  thin,  —  made 


ON  THE    VERGE   OF  BATTLE.  139 

so,  no  doubt,  by  forced  marches  and  short  rations  ; 
and  I  thought  regretfully  of  the  anger  I  had  felt 
when  I  fired  at  those  poor  boys. 

Our  men  gave  the  wounded  every  care  possible 
under  the  circumstances,  —  shared  with  them  their 
food  and  drink,  and  tried  to  ease  their  pain  by 
cheerful  words  ;  but  before  morning  four  had 
died. 

The  next  morning  we  did  the  best  we  could 
for  them,  but  by  seven  o'clock  were  following 
once  more  our  columns,  which  filled  the  mountain- 
passes. 

At  dawn  intelligence  came  to  us  that  Lee  had 
withdrawn  into  the  valley  of  the  Antietam,  and 
we  were  soon  in  hot  pursuit. 

The  country  was  a  beautiful  one,  and  on  every 
side  were  seen  fields  of  grain  ready  for  the  reaper, 
orchards  and  meadows,  cattle  grazing  in  the  fields ; 
while  comfortable  farmhouses  and  barns  showed 
that  abundance  was  common  to  the  country. 


140  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

BATTLE   OF   ANTIETAM. 

On  Monday  morning  our  column  approached  a 
line  of  low  hills,  and  turned  off  on  the  road  to  the 
left  of  them.  After  marching  a  short  distance 
over  this  road,  which  ran  parallel  to  the  line  of 
hills,  we  were  halted  for  a  rest. 

Soon  after  we  halted,  prompted  by  that  curios- 
ity which  is  the  Yankee  birthright,  I  went  with 
a  few  comrades  to  the  top  of  the  ridge,  little 
knowing,  however,  that  I  was  about  to  look  out 
on  what  was  destined  shortly  to  become  one  of 
the  world's  great  battle-fields.  Below  us,  wind- 
ing in  its  crooked  course,  and  partly  hidden  by  a 
deep  fringe  of  foliage,  ran  a  narrow  river,  the 
Antietam.  On  the  left,  across  this  creek  or  river, 
was  a  little  village ;  with  fields  in  front,  enclosed 
by  stone  walls ;  as  beautiful  an  undulating  land- 
scape as  the  eye  could  desire  to  rest  upon. 

In  the  green  fields  herds  of  cattle  were  grazing ; 
orchards  and  yellow  harvests,  and  here  and  there 
comfortable  farmhouses,  some  on  eminences,  others 
half  hidden  by  vines  and  shade-trees,  gave  variety 
to  the  peaceful  valley. 


BATTLE   OF  ANTIETAM.  141 

A  road  ran  from  the  village,  almost  parallel 
with  the  general  course  of  the  river,  which  here 
runs  nearly  north  and  south.  Other  roads  forked 
from  this  pike,  and  ran  towards  the  river. 

"What  village  can  that  be?"  I  iliquired,  con- 
sulting my  pocket  map.     "  Is  it  Hagerstown  ?  " 

"  It's  Sharpsburg,"  replied  one  of  my  comrades, 
who  was  familiar  with  this  part  of  the  country. 
"  Hagerstown  must  be  twenty  miles  north  of  us  ; 
that  road  running  north  from  the  village  is  the 
Hagerstown  pike.  You  could  see  the  Potomac 
from  here  if  it  wasn't  for  the  wooded  hills." 

Several  stone  bridges  crossed  the  stream  on  our 
front,  while  the  landscape  was  closed  in  on  our 
right  and  left  by  wooded  ridges. 

As  we  stood  here  a  group  of  officers  came  to  the 
ridge,  not  far  from  us,  viewing  the  country  with 
their  field-glasses. 

"  Just  see  that !  "  Captain  Grim  (who  was 
standing  by  my  side)  pointed  to  little  white  puffs 
of  smoke  which  arose  from  the  road  near  the  town. 
Before  I  could  inquire  its  import,  shells  hoarsely 
whistled  over  the  heads  of  the  group  of  officers  I 
have  mentioned. 

"  Hear  that,  my  boy ! "  exclaimed  Crandall,  as 
shot  after  shot  was  fired  ;  "  that  means,  just  as 
plain  as  if  't  was  said  in  English,  '  We  rebs  are 
here  !  And  if  you  think  j^ou  can  drive  us  out, 
try  it ! '" 

Just  then,  as  if  in  response  to  the  challenge,  a 


142  JACK  ALDEN. 

light  battery,  six  horses  to  a  gun,  came  galloping, 
with  a  whirl  and  clatter  of  haste,  to  the  top  of  the 
hill,  wheeled  into  position,  and  one  after  another 
of  the  guns  opened  fire  with  a  furious  rapidity  and 
precision  of  ^m  that  astonished  me. 

As  the  group  of  officers  went  down  the  hill,  I 
heard  one  of  them  say,  "  The  enemy  is  in  force 
on  both  sides  of  that  road." 

"  There  don't  seem  to  be  much  harm  done,"  I 
said,  "  except  the  big  noise  they're  making ;  no 
one  is  hurt." 

"  See  here,"  said  Add,  who  was  one  of  our 
party,  "  't  ain't  meant  for  fun  or  fireworks,  you 
bet!" 

"  No,"  said  Captain  Grim,  looking  off  across  the 
river  with  his  glass;  "it's  a  defiance,  rather  than 
anything  else ;  but  it  looks  to  me  as  though  they 
were  putting  on  a  bold  face  to  cover  some  de- 
ficiency :  likely  their  whole  force  ain't  up  yet,  and 
they  want  to  stand  us  off  a  while.  What's  the  use 
of  firing  when  they  don't  touch  us,  or  we  them,  did 
you  say  ?  Why,  every  one  of  them  bronze  pieces 
is  asking  a  question;  and  they  have  got  an  an- 
swer. Question  is,  'Where  are  you,  Johnny  Reb?' 
We've  developed  their  position,  and  I  guess  from 
their  fire  that  they  are  in  force,  and  pi-obably  on 
both  sides  of  tliat  road.  They  mean  to  receive 
battle  there.  Boys,  we'd  better  get  back  to  the 
regiment !  We  are  likely  to  attack,  or  at  least 
go   for   'em,  just    as    soon   as   we   can  get    ready. 


BATTLE   OF  ANTIETAM.  143 

We  shall  have  some  mighty  sharp  work  before 
long,  anyway." 

The  enemy's  position  was  admirably  chosen, 
their  lines  being  drawn  across  an  angle,  formed 
by  the  junction  of  the  Potomac  with  the  Antietam 
River,  which  here  runs  nearly  south,  and  obliquely 
towards  the  Potomac  ;  and  as  the  Potomac  at  this 
point  forms,  by  a  series  of  curves,  a  sort  of  horse- 
shoe bend  in  their  rear,  they  were  enabled  to  rest 
both  flanks  on  that  stream,  while  the  Antietam 
protected  their  front.  A  line  of  abrupt  ^ills, 
rising  from  the  river,  forming  a  half-circle,  with 
the  convexity  in  front,  enabled  their  artillery  to 
sweep  the  level  land  from  right  to  left  before 
them,  and  make  it  cost  dearly  in  life  to  cross  the 
bridges  near  the  town. 

On  the  afternoon  of  our  arrival  we  were  brought 
to  our  feet  b}^  cheering,  which  came  nearer  and 
nearer.  It  was  for  McClellan,  who  was  riding 
down  our  lines,  and  was  receiving  an  enthusiastic 
welcome  from  his  devoted  soldiers.  As  he  came 
by  us  on  his  magnificent  black  horse,  which  out- 
sped  the  horses  of  his  staff,  we  too  threw  up 
our  hats,  and  cheered  enthusiastically  until  we 
were  hoarse.  We  could  hear  the  cheering  as  he 
passed,  sounding  along  the  line  until  it  seemed 
but  an  echo  in  the  distance. 

That  night  we  slept  on  our  arms. 

Tuesday  morning  dawned  hot  and  breathless. 
All   that  day  we  waited,  expectant,  but  not  anx- 


144  JACK  ALDEN. 

ious,  for  the  fight  to  begin.  When  we  went  to  the 
top  of  the  hill,  the  Confederate  gunners  showed 
us  more  attentions  than  seemed  good  for  us,  and 
we  speedily  got  down  again,  with  the  angry  sput- 
terino^  and  hoarse  screeching^  of  shell  over  us.  The 
artillery  was  very  noisy,  and  most  of  that  day  the 
very  hills  seemed  to  shake  with  its  explosions. 

"Guess  we  ain't  goin'  to  have  much  fightin',  at 
this  rate,"  said  one  of  the  recruits,  who  was  just 
learning  to  grumble.  Orderly-Sergeant  Crandall, 
who«vvas  cooking  his  supper,  looked  up  and  said, 
with  a  smile  o'f  disdain  at  such  shallowness,  — 

"  Humph !  you'll  soon  see  enough  of  that  busi- 
ness, so  you  won't  hanker  for  it  a'terwards,  or 
I'm  much  mistaken  in  signs !  " 

It  was  near  sundown  when  Add  exclaimed, 
"  There  they  go  !  Hear  that !  "  And  from  across 
the  river  there  came  the  long  roar  of  musketry, 
showing  that  the  battle  had  actually  begun. 

This  is  what  was  taking  place.  Hooker's  corps, 
with  Mansfield's  in  reserve,  had  crossed  Antie- 
tam  Creek  at  an  unguarded  ford  near  Pye's  Mills, 
above  us.  His  advance,  under  Meade,  had,  at 
about  sundown,  encountered  the  enemy  under 
Hood,  and  driven  him  back.  And  then  with  a 
sharp  skirmish  ended  the  fight  for  the  night. 

Let  us  now  turn  and  see  the  field  of  action  from 
a  more  general  standpoint  than  individual  sight 
can  give. 

The  Confederate  general,  although  in  no   con- 


BATTLE   OF  ANTIETAM.  145 

dition  for  the  aggressive,  had  made  careful  prepa- 
ration to  receive  an  attack. 

To  guard  the  turnpike  which  we  had  observed 
from  the  ridge  (running  north  and  south  beyond 
the  town  and  across  the  Potomac),  he  had  placed 
two  briofades  under  Hood,  with  Jackson  near,  as 
reserve.  Longs treet's  corps  was  on  the  right  of 
the  road,  from  Sharpsburg  to  Boonsboro",  with 
D.  H.  Hill's  corps  on  the  left. 

Three  of  the  stone  bridges  nearest  the  town, 
crossing  the  Antietam  on  his  front,  were  so  well 
guarded  as  to  prevent  a  front  attack  by  our  army. 

The  plan  of  battle  formed  meanwhile  by  the 
Union  commander  was  simple  and  comprehen- 
sive. It  was  to  throw  his  riorht  winor  across  the 
river,  and  attack  with  Hooker's  corps,  supported 
by  those  of  Mansfield  and  Sumner.  When  this 
manoeuvre  should  have  withdrawn  attention  from 
his  centre  and  left,  the  bridges  were  to  be  forced, 
and  the  enemy  there  posted  to  be  driven  back. 
Hooker's  attack  was  in  furtherance  of  this  plan, 
and  the  firingr  we  had  heard  in  the  eveningr  was 
from  this  corps,  engaging  the  Confederate  left. 

Shortly  after  this  I  saw  our  colonel  in  conver- 
sation with  Captain  Grim ;  afterwards  Orderly 
Crandall  came  to  us,  and  said  gravely.  "  Be  ready 
to  move  at  any  time.  boys.  It's  likely  to  rain  ;  so 
keep  your  muskets  dry." 

In  the  morning  I  was  awakened  from  a  dream- 
less sleep  by  hearing  the  call,  '•  Turn  out !     Turn 


146  JACK  ALDEN. 

out  there !  "  I  sprang  to  my  feet,  and,  amid  the 
drizzling  rain  of  the  early  morning,  was  soon  en- 
gaged with  my  comrades  in  preparation  for  what 
might  be  before  us. 

We  boiled  coffee,  refilled  our  canteens  and  hav- 
ersacks, and  growled  about  the  weather. 

I  wondered  how  I  should  acquit  myself  in  the 
impending  fight;  for,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  didn't  feel 
very  brave. 

At  seven  o'clock  we  heard  the  first  volley  of 
musketry  across  the  river,  to  which  was  soon 
joined  the  steady  boom,  boom,  boom,  of  artillery, 
showing  that  the  battle  had  begun. 

As  we  got  the  order  to  march,  half  an  hour 
later,  the  clouds  cleared,  and  the  sun  came  out, 
giving  promise  of  fair  weather.  The  colonel,  a 
thick-set,  grave,  resolute-looking  man,  rode  down 
our  front,  accompanied  by  a  white-haired  officer. 

"That's  General  Sumner,"  said  Add,  "and  he's 
a  good  one  too." 

"  Wliat  have  you  got  your  frying-pan  lashed  to 
your  back  for,  Add?"  I  asked. 

"Carry  it  for  luck,"  was  the  reply.  "Maybe 
I'll  be  lucky  enough  to  have  a  chance  to  fry  some- 
thing, you  know  !  " 

We  crossed  the  river  by  a  lower  ford;  and,  as 
we  halted.  General  McClellan  again  rode  down 
our  lines,  and  was  again  received  by  his  soldiers 
with  wonderful  enthusiasm.  The  veterans  threw 
up  their  caps,  and  cheered  again  and  again.     Their 


BATTLE   OF  ANTIETAM.  147 

enthusiasm  for  him  resulted,  I  believe,  from  their 
faith  that  he  would  not  needlessly  throw  away 
lives. 

"That,"  I  heard  Lieutenant  Mason  say,  "will 
put  life  into  them.  A  man  can't  cheer  like  that, 
and  consistently  turn  his  back  on  the  rebs  after- 
ward.    May  God  prosper  the  cause  !  " 

As  our  young  lieutenant  said  this,  I  could 
not  help  admiring  his  straight,  athletic,  although 
youthful,  form.  There  were  grave  lines  of  manly 
resolution  on  his  face,  but  not  the  first  sign  of  a 
beard.  He  was  a  mere  boy,  yet  had  already 
gained  a  character  for  steadiness  and  bravery. 
He  was  the  very  impersonation  of  young  Christian 
manhood ;  and  one  could  not  know  him  long 
without  being  impressed,  as  I  was,  that  his  cour- 
age Avas  born  of  fear  of  God. 

The  order,  "  Forward !  "  came,  and  we  moved 
on  towards  the  discordant  sounds  of  battle. 

While  our  column  is  moving  forward,  let  us  for 
a  brief  moment  explain  what  was  taking  place 
on  our  front,  where  could  be  heard  tlie  long  volleys 
of  musketry  and  the  rapid  iiring  of  artillery. 

Hooker  had  attempted  to  carry  the  Hagerstown 
road  and  the  wood  west  of  it.  This  was  the  aim, 
also,  of  the  succession  of  desperate  attacks  that 
followed.  So  long  as  the  Confederates  held  this 
wood,  they  were  ambushed  in  a  position  to  deliver 
a  flanking  fire  on  our  troops  as  they  advanced  on 
the  cleared  land  on  the  rio-ht  of  it. 


148  JACK  ALDEN. 

After  an  hour's  bloody  bushwhacking,  Hooker 
drove  the  enemy  from  a  large  cornfield  near  the 
turnpike.  Here  the  fight,  furious  from  the  begin- 
ning, became  awful.  The  lines  of  battle,  swaying 
back  and  forth,  had  strewn  the  cornfield  with  a 
harvest  of  dead,  whose  blood  reddened  the  blades 
of  corn.  The  hostile  lines  had  literally  torn  each 
other  in  pieces. 

Hooker  had  thrown  forward  Meade  in  advance, 
to  seize  the  Hagerstown  road.  The  enemy's  line, 
staggered  and  overthrown,  was  falling  back,  when 
the  reserve  division,  under  Stonewall  Jackson,  re- 
enforced  by  Hood's  two  brigades,  rushed  yelling 
from  the  wood,  and  hurled  back  Meade's  columns, 
broken  and  bleeding.  Such  was  the  situation  as 
we  advanced. 

It  is  the  unknown  quantity  in  danger  that  ter- 
rifies. As  we  moved  forward  towards  the  battle 
sounds,  the  cannon  roaring  louder  and  louder,  and 
the  musketry  crackling  fiercer  and  fiercer,  like 
hemlock  twigs  in  the  flames,  I  found  myself  in 
a  tremor  of  nervousness,  which  I  could  not  wholly 
suppress.  I  had  no  desire  to  die  a  hero's  death. 
There  were  too  many  heroes,  and  the  prospect  of 
being  overlooked  was  not  pleasing  to  one's  egotism. 

"How  do  you  like  it  as  far  as  you've  gone?" 
Add  asked  this  in  an  undertone,  as  if  he  surmised 
my  thoughts,  as  one  of  our  new  men,  pale  and 
gasping  with  fright,  fell  out  of  line,  and  was  forced 
back  again  by  the  file-closers. 


BATTLE   OF  ANTIETAM.  149 

"I  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  do  my  duty!"  I  said 
this  angrily,  from  the  fact  that  I  had  my  doubts, 
and  yet  was  afraid  of  being  thought  a  coward. 

"  I  know,"  said  Add,  "  'bout  how  you  feel,  I 
guess.  But  you  don't  fight  any  part  of  this  fight, 
though,  until  you  get  there ;  don't  bother  'bout 
anything  till  it  comes  !  " 

We  marched  at  the  sharp  run  called  a  double- 
quick,  for  a  mile  or  more,  then  entered  a  grove 
almost  clear  of  underbrush,  where  numerous  dead 
and  wounded  men  still  lay  on  the  ground. 

Here,  too,  were  faint-hearted  men  who  had  left 
the  battle-ranks  under  pretence  of  taking  care  of 
the  wounded. 

"These  men,"  I  heard  Captain  Grim  sarcasti- 
cally remark,  "are  too  thunderin'  tender." 

"  Shows  that  old  Joe  Hooker,"  said  another, 
"has  had  a  hard  pull  for  it." 

One  of  the  would-be-thought  Good  Samaritans, 
in  answer  to  an  uncomplimentary  remark,  angrily 
shouted  in  reply,  "  Laugh !  but  j^ou'U  come  to  the 
rear  pretty  soon,  like  a  whipped  dog  with  his  tail 
between  his  legs !  You'll  get  your  stomach  full 
out  there  before  you  know  it !  " 

We  had  halted  for  a  few  moments  to  re-form  our 
line,  for  every  impediment  of  tree  or  rock  breaks 
up  a  regular  formation  in  an  advance  like  this. 

While  this  halt  was  made,  the  order  was  given 
that  no  one  was  to  leave  the  ranks,  not  even  to 
attend  to  our  wounded. 


150  JACK  ALDEN. 

The  evidences  of  the  fight  seen  in  this  wood, 
coupled  with  this  command,  were  significant. 

The  dead  and  wounded  of  the  enemy,  as  well  as 
our  own,  encumbered  the  ground  at  almost  every 
step.  Some  of  the  wounded  were  propped  against 
trees,  others  were  helping  one  another,  and  in  some 
instances  had  bound  up  their  wounds  with  blades 
of  corn. 

The  fierce  fight  that  raged  here  must  have  been 
appalling.  Some  of  the  wounded  signalled  us  for 
help,  which  we  could  not  give.  My  heart  sick- 
ened; its  pulsations  were  like  a  muffled  drum. 

We  finally  reached  open  ground,  where  the  ene- 
my's unseen  artillery  struck  our  ranks.  Bullets 
hissed  from  foes  in  ambush  as  we  ran  on,  and  were 
finally  halted,  and  drawn  up  in  line  parallel  to  the 
Hagerstown  pike. 

Between  us  and  this  road  was  a  field  of  high, 
thick  Indian  corn.  A  fence  was  taken  down 
while  we  were  re-forming,  and  again  on  we  went, 
still  under  fire  from  the  enemy,  passing  over 
the  dead  and  wounded  who  dotted  the  field. 

Few  men  besides  ours  were  in  sight.  It  looked 
as  if  this  affair  was  exclusively  our  own. 

As  we  passed  into  the  wood  on  the  other  side  of 
the  road,  we  were,  for  a  short  time,  out  of  range  of 
the  enemy's  fire.  After  marching  a  while,  we  en- 
countered them  again,  while  we  were  moved  by 
the  right  oblique,  to  close  an  interval  between 
us  and  another  regiment.      At  this  time  we  had 


BATTLE   OF  ANTIETAM.  151 

reached  a  slight  rise  in  the  ground,  and  began 
to  drive  the  enemy  steadily  before  us. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  a  dramatic  incident 
occurred.  While  the  enemy  were  attempting  to 
lally  tlieir  men  around  a  flag,  not  over  fifteen 
yards  from  us,  a  volley  was  poured  into  them 
from  our  muskets.  In  the  smoke  of  it,  I  saw  one 
of  our  men  run  forward  to  the  rebel  color-bearer, 
who  stood  wounded  and  deserted  by  his  comrades, 
wrest  the  flag  from  his  hands,  and,  with  the 
standard-bearer  for  a  prisoner,  quickly  join  our 
ranks  with  the  flag,  amid  the  cheers  of  our  boys. 
It  was  George  Standish. 

The  enemy  had  now  fallen  back  to  the  cover 
of  an  orchard,  a  wheat-field,  haystacks,  and  farm- 
buildings.  From  these  they  delivered  a  slow  but 
deadly  fire.  The  fight  now  became  more  and  more 
furious,  as  the  hostile  lines,  not  forty  feet  apart, 
cheered,  yelled,  and  fought  like  demons. 

A  section  of  Confederate  artillery,  stationed  on 
a  knoll  about  six  hundred  yards  from  us,  was 
meanwhile  delivering  a  destructive  fire  of  canister. 
Twice  we  drove  their  cannoneers  from  their  guns 
by  converging  our  fire  upon  them,  but  the  brave 
fellows  returned  again. 

To  add  to  the  terrible  destruction  in  our  ranks, 
one  of  our  own  regiments  had  stupidly  begun  to 
fire  at  the  enemy  through  our  line,  killing  scores 
of  our  men. 

We  now  got  the  order  to  advance.  The 
enemy's  fire  was  deadly  as  we  breasted  it. 


152  JACK  ALDEN. 

The  colonel,  on  foot,  raged  at  seeing  that  his 
regiment  had  melted  away  before  the  fire  of  friend 
and  foe.  Captain  Grim  was  smiling  his  danger- 
ous, bull-dog  smile,  —  giving  his  orders  so  they 
were  heard  distinctly  above  the  uproar.  His 
clear,  cold  tones  calmed  and  reassured  his  men. 

The  ground  was  meanwhile  covered  with  our 
poor  boys,  wounded  and  dead;  for  the  order  for- 
bidding the  carrying  of  wounded  men  to  the  rear 
was  obeyed  to  the  letter. 

Suddenly  the  uproar  increased.  Worse  had 
come !  The  enemy  had  been  heavily  re-enforced. 
It  was  a  terrible  moment.  An  awful  fire  of  mus- 
ketry from  flank,  front,  and  rear  struck  our  ranks 
like  a  cyclone  of  death. 

In  a  moment  there  were  on  the  ground  more  of 
dead  and  wounded  than  living  men ;  our  ranks 
were  crushed.  Shouts  of  rage  and  despair  were 
heard.  Encouraging  cries  came  from  our  wounded 
comrades,  who  exclaimed,  "  Stick  to  'em !  Don't 
mind  us  !     Fight  it  out !  " 

Out  of  five  hundred  and  eighty  muskets  carried 
into  the  fight  by  our  regiment,  only  two  hundred 
and  thirtj'-four  now  remained. 

Still  we  do  not  give  it  up.  We  face  to  the 
rear,  deliver  fire,  and  then  sullenly  retire,  fight- 
ing as  we  fall  back.  Then  all  is  hastened  and 
precipitated.  Our  ranks  dissolve  like  a  thaw,  yet 
we  do  not  entirely  lose  the  order  of  our  line,  but 
fall  back,  step  by  step,  until  under  the  protection 


BATTLE  OF  ANTIETAM.  153 

of  our  artillery,  not  four  hundred  yards  distant 
from  the  scene  of  our  fierce  conflict.  Here  the 
enemy  converge  their  artillery  upon  our  position, 
until  we  fall  back  once  more  to  support  a  battery 
still  farther  in  the  rear. 

While  these  batteries  flame  and  thunder  over 
us,  we  await,  expecting  to  hear  the  order  for 
another  advance.  But  the  fight  is  substantially 
over,  and  the  order  does  not  come. 

Among  the  wounded  who  had  come  away  with 
us  from  the  scene  of  the  morning's  fight,  was  little 
Mike,  the  drummer,  who  said  proudly,  "  I  fighted 
'em  like  the  rest  of  ye's." 

Captain  Grim  was  wounded  in  the  right  arm, 
while  Lieutenant  Mason  had  two  slight  flesh- 
wounds.  In  opening  my  clothes  to  look  for  my 
wound,  I  found  oiily  a  vivid  welt  across  my  chest, 
caused  by  the  graze  of  a  bullet.  There  were  six 
of  the  Centerboro'  boys  among  the  killed  and 
wounded. 

My  heart  was  sore,  yet  grateful ;  sore  for  my 
comrades,  sleeping  on  the  field,  never  more  to 
be  awakened ;  grateful,  that  by  some  mysterious 
chance,  where  it  seemed  none  could  escape  from 
the  maelstrom  of  death,  I  had  passed  unhurt,  and 
had  done  my  duty,  so  that  no  one  but  myself 
really  knew  the  fears  that  had  beset  me.  I 
was,  however,  in  a  tumult  of  doubt.  I  ques- 
tioned again  and  again  my  courage,  and  was 
not   satisfied   even   when    Captain    Grim   compli- 


154  JACK  ALDEN. 

mented   me    on   my   good   conduct    in    this,    my 
first  battle. 

"  I  had  my  eye  on  you,"  said  Grim.  "  Scared? 
Of  course  you  were ;  I  was  myself." 

Add  had  escaped  unhurt,  but  bewailed  the  loss 
of  his  frying-pan.  It  had  been  struck  and  shat- 
tered by  bullets,  so  that  nothing  but  the  handle 
dangled  at  his  back  when,  as  he  said,  he  "  took 
an  account  of  stock." 

"I  think,"  said  he,  "  I  heard  you  ask,  just  as  we 
were  going  into  the  fight,  what  I  carried  it  for? 
Now  you  see  I  carried  it  for  luck ;  it  was  my  life- 
preserver." 

It  may  seem  to  my  readers  who  have  never  seen 
a  battle,  a  very  curious  statement  when  I  say  that 
we  did  not  know  at  that  time  whether  we  had 
been  defeated  or  had  won  a  victory.  The  com- 
binations of  a  battle-field  are  so  immense,  that  an 
individual  sees  but  little.  It  is  only  after  a  fight 
that  the  many  incidents  of  soldiers'  experiences, 
told  around  the  campfire,  or  reported  by  officers, 
give  something  like  a  complete  account  of  all  that 
has  happened. 

It  was  months  afterwards  that  we  learned  that 
the  Confederate  brigades  had  worked  around  under 
cover  of  the  woods,  on  our  flank  and  rear,  and  had 
wrought  such  destruction  in  our  ranks,  that 
our  division  had  lost  2,255  men.  The  effort  to 
flank  us,  we  also  learned  some  days  after  the 
fight,  had  been  checked  by  Barlow,  who  quickly 


BATTLE   OF  ANTIETAM.  155 

changed    front,    and    enfiladed    the    enemy's    ad- 
vancing line. 

General  Burnside,  on  the  extreme  left,  did  not 
attack  until  the  battle  was  over  on  the  right;  and 
hence  the  Confederates  had  brought  nearly  all 
their  forces  from  their  right  into  the  fight  against 
us.  When  Burnside's  men  did  cross  Antietam 
bridge,  near  the  town,  on  the  left,  and  liad  pierced 
the  enemy's  line  in  the  full  tide  of  successful 
battle,  General  A.  P.  Hill,  avIio  had  marched  from 
Harper's  Ferry,  —  seventeen  miles  in  seven  hours, 
—  re-enforced  the  broken  Confederate  line,  and 
di'ove  Burnside  back  to  the  protection  of  the 
river  bluff,  with  a  loss  of  2,202  men.  This  sub- 
stantially ended  the  battle  of  Antietam. 


156  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

AFTER   THE   BATTLE. 

As  the  sun  went  down  the  sounds  of  battle 
died  away  along  the  Antietam.  Darkness  threw 
its  pitying  shadows  over  the  field,  concealing  the 
ensanguined  work  of  man  against  man.  Rest 
had  come  to  those  who  had  fought,  and  unstrung 
nerves  and  the  despondency  of  reflection  fol- 
lowed the  fierce  excitement  of  conflict.  Pitjdng 
thoughts  of  wounded  comrades,  and  even  of  foes, 
still  lying  on  the  field,  prompted  us  to  make  an 
effort  for  their  relief. 

"Who,"  asked  Sergeant  Crandall,  "will  come 
with  me  to  look  after  our  poor  boys  out  there  ?  " 

There  was  no  lack  of  response,  although  the 
men  were  tired  with  the  day's  contest.  More  vol- 
unteered than  it  was  safe  or  advisable  to  take  on 
such  an  errand.  I  was  among  those  selected  to 
go. 

"  Take  your  blankets,"  said  Sergeant  Crandall, 
"  and  cut  poles  to  wind  them  on  for  stretchers. 
Fill  your  canteens ;  the  wounded  always  want 
water  the  first  thing.  No,  you  needn't  take  your 
muskets,   or  at  least  not  more   than  one  or  two 


AFTER   THE  BATTLE.  157 

of  you.  The  rebs  won't  interfere  if  they  under- 
stand what  we  are  up  to  ;  more  likely  we  shall 
meet  some  of  them  on  the  same  errand." 

"  Men  who  have  been  fighting  each  other  don't 
feel  very  bitter,"  said  Add,  more  seriously  than 
was  his  wont.  "  But  we  are  likely  to  meet  with 
some  of  the  cowardly,  prowling  thieves  who  strip 
the  dead  and  go  through  their  pockets ;  there 
ain't  anything  human  about  them," 

"  Maybe,"  said  Crandall  reflectively,  putting  an 
army  revolver  in  his  pocket.  "  Here,  Add  Key, 
you  oughter  be  goin'  too,  —  talk's  if  you  was  !  " 

"  Want  me  to  go  ?  "  said  Add.  "  Well,  I  ain't 
hankerin'  for  it !     I'll  go,  though  !  " 

The  starlight  was  bright  as  our  party,  equipped 
for  the  task  of  rescuing  and  comforting  wounded 
men,  made  its  way  cautiously  up  the  Hagerstown 
pike,  and  then  stealthily  through  the  cornfield, 
where  some  of  the  terrible  encounters  of  the 
previous  day  had  taken  place.  Occasionally,  as 
we  advanced,  listening  to  every  sound,  we  heard 
the  cry  of  a  wounded  horse,  or  the  groans  of 
wounded  men.  We  found  several  of  our  com- 
rades on  the  outskirts  of  the  west  wood,  and  sent 
them  back  to  the  ambulance,  which  was  expected 
to  follow  us  on  the  road. 

Peering  into  the  shadows  cast  by  rocks  or 
bushes,  pausing  and  listening,  we  cautiously  ad- 
vanced. Here  were  groups  of  dead  which  we 
passed  without   pause,  except  where  we  thought 


158  JACK  ALDEN. 

there  might  be  some  of  our  own  company ;  then 
we  turned  up  their  faces  to  the  starlight  for 
recognition. 

At  one  place  near  the  pike  was  a  group  of  Con- 
federate dead  around  the  wheels  of  a  broken 
limber-box.  We  were  about  to  i3ass  on  when  we 
heard  a  smothered  groan. 

"  Some  one,"  whispered  Crandall,  as  he  pro- 
ceeded to  examine  the  group,  "  is  alive  here  ! 
This  is  him!     Where  ye  hurt,  old  feller?" 

"Water  !  "  feebly  gasped  the  wounded  man. 

I  held  the  head  of  the  poor  fellow,  and  put  my 
canteen  to  his  lips. 

"  Here !  you  give  him  a  little  of  this  commis- 
sary with  the  water  ;  it  may  revive  him.  Be  care- 
ful, now!  Ye  want  to  know  where  he's  hurt  be- 
fore ye  fool  around  moving  him  much,  or  you'll 
do  him  more  harm  than  good." 

I  didn't  approve  of  the  use  of  liquors,  but  I  gave 
the  wounded  man  some  whiskey  mixed  with  water 
from  Crandall's  cup.  He  uttered  a  deep  sigh,  and 
once  more  called  for  water.  I  gave  him  another 
drink,  propped  up  his  head  with  a  blanket,  and 
was  about  to  leave  him,  when  he  faintly  said, 
"  Oh,  please  don't  leave  me  here  to  die  !  " 

"  We  are  Yanks  !  "  said  I.  "  Shall  we  take  you 
to  our  surgeon,  and  let  him  see  to  you  ?  Where 
are  you  wounded?  " 

"  My  side  !  Oh,  don't,"  he  groaned,  "  leave  me 
here  !  '* 


AFTER    THE  BATTLE.  159 

"  Give  him  another  sip  o'  that  ere  brandy," 
ordered  Sergeant  Crandall,  "  and  put  your  Hanket 
under  hira,  and  get  him  down  to  the  road.  Don't 
jolt  him.  Better  wind  a  strip  of  this  Uanket 
around  that  wounded  place." 

A  blanket  was  quickly  put  under  the  wounded 
man,  poles  were  fixed  to  it  for  carrying,  and 
Standish  and  I  carried  him  down  to  the  road  with- 
out accident,  and  were  fortunate  in  getting  him 
into  an  ambulance  at  once. 

We  returned,  and,  cautiously  advancing  through 
the  west  wood,  soon  came  to  the  scene  of  the 
morning's  desperate  conflict,  which  had  so  terribly 
thinned  our  ranks. 

"  The  reb  picket,"  whispered  Crandall,  "  is  just 
out  there  ahead ;  be  careful  now  !  " 

Here  we  found  more  of  our  wounded  men  than 
Ave  had  thought  possible,  as  well  as  several 
wounded  Confederates,  to  whom  we  gave  drink 
as  to  our  own  men.  One  of  the  Confederates  said 
sorrowfully  in  a  hoarse  whisper,  "  Our  folks  have 
been  here,  and  didn't  offer  to  help  me  !  " 

In  several  instances  we  found  our  dead  stripped 
of  their  outer  clothing.  As  we  advanced  towards 
the  open  land,  two  or  three  shots  came  from  the 
Confederate  pickets,  which  were  close  at  hand,  in 
the  edge  of  the  wood.  We  sent  a  score  of  our 
men  to  the  road,  and  even  rescued  some  that  were 
in  the  edge  of  the  clearing.  The  pickets,  probably 
aware  of  the  nature  of  our  mission,  did  not  fire 
upon  us  again. 


160  JACK  ALDEN. 

One  of  the  wounded  told  me  that  a  Confederate 
had  been  among  them,  giving  them  water,  and  at 
the  same  time  had  rifled  the  pockets  of  the  dead. 

All  throuofh  the  war  I  found  the  Confederates 
sharp  plunderers.  A  battle  won  often  meant  to 
the  poor  fellows,  food,  Yankee  watches,  books, 
jackknives,  and  overcoats ;  while  the  Yanks,  on 
the  other  hand,  did  not  consider  a  dead  Confeder- 
ate worth  attention  for  such  a  purpose.  One  can 
scarcely  blame  destitute  men  for  thus  compensat- 
ing themselves  for  their  services,  as  plunder  was 
often  the  most  valuable  of  anything  they  received. 

It  was  about  twelve  o'clock  at  night  when  we 
again  reached  the  hill  where  our  regiment  was 
encamped ;  and  I  was  then  too  tired  to  think  of  the 
saddening  scenes  narrated,  or  for  any  thought  or 
feeling  other  than  a  desire  to  rest.  My  sleep  was 
dreamless,  and  so  profound  that  when  I  was  awak- 
ened it  seemed  to  me  I  had  but  just  closed  my 
eyes  the  moment  before. 

It  is  because  of  this  ability  to  sleep  and  quickly 
recuperate,  if  for  no  other,  that  boys  often  make 
the  best  soldiers.  They  can  rest  when  older  men 
are  too  tired  and  nerve-strained  to  do  so.  As  Add 
put  it,  "  A  good  soldier  should  be  able  to  put  in 
licks  at  eating  and  sleeping  every  time  he  gets  a 
chance." 

The  men  were  soon  astir  all  over  camp,  getting 
their  breakfast  of  hardtack,  pork,  and  coffee.  Add 
on  this  occasion  growled  and  complained  of   the 


AFTER   THE  BATTLE.  161 

loss  of  his  fry-pan,  as  if  it  were  the  principal  loss 
of  the  battle.  "  I  might  'a'  made  a  son-of-a-gun 
if  I'd  had  it.  'What's  that?'  Why,  hardtack 
soaked  in  water  and  fried  with  a  little  molasses 
on  'em." 

After  breakfast  was  over  the  veterans  lit  their 
brier-wood  pipes,  and  began  to  smoke  as  if  they 
had  a  contract  for  it,  drawing  contentment  from 
the  pipes,  as  Tobin  said,  "  at  the  rate  of  forty  j^ards 
a  minute." 

"  We  may's  well  get  in  a  good  smoke  before  the 
racket  begins,"  said  Crandall.  "You  can't  seem 
ter  sense  your  smoke  when  you  are  in  a  fight. 
The  Cap  feels  pretty  sore  'cause  our  reserves 
across  the  river  ain't  hurried  up  ;  says  we  shall 
need  'em  ter  drive  the  i-ebs  into  the  Potomac ; 
believes  we  can  do  it  too." 

"  Looked  as  if  we  should  be  drove  into  Tophet 
yisterday  about  this  time,"  growled  an  old  vet 
with  provoking  incredulity ;  "  talk  about  drivin' 
them ! " 

"  Well,  yes,"  said  Crandall,  scowling  and  pok- 
ing the  fire  reflectively  and  slowly.  "  You  see, 
that  place  we  got  inter  j^esterday  was  a  key-pint 
of  this  battle-field,  and  the  rebs  knew  it,  and  got 
in  some  of  their  best  work  to  back  us  out." 

"  Kicked  us  out,  I  guess  yer  mean,"  said  Add 
half  seriously.  "  I  don't  believe  in  them  keys.  I 
never  see  a  plaguy  mean,  hard  spot  since  I've  been 
in  the  army  but  what  there  was  a  key  lay  in'  round 


162  JACK  ALDEN. 

near  'noiigh  ter  get  men  killed  as  fast  's  they  got 
there !  Yesterday  while  fumblin'  around  for  the 
key  of  this  field  we  got  licked;  and,  by  jiminy! 
them  rebs  sp'iled  the  best  little  fry-pan  in  the 
army,  and  —  killed  a  good  many  of  our  boys, 
too  !  " 

"  Well,  boys,  it  ain't  any  use  for  us  to  growl  or 
feel  sore,"  said  a  voice  back  of  us.  I  turned,  and 
found  Captain  Grim,  rather  pale  from  his  hurt, 
who  had  come  up  and  was  standing  behind  us. 
He  had  his  wounded  arm  bandaged  and  in  a  sling. 
"  We  did  our  work  like  men,"  he  continued,  "  and 
it  wasn't  our  fault  we  didn't  whip  the  rebs.  My 
own  opinion  is,  if  we  had  had  two  or  three  regi- 
ments on  our  flanks  to  protect  them,  we  shouldn't 
have  got  into  the  scrape,  and  would  'a'  ben  able  to 
have  given  them  as  good  as  they  sent.  I  heard 
some  of  our  big  officers  say  that  General  Sumner's 
an  old  cavalry  officer,  an'  can't  git  fixed  ideas  out 
of  his  head;  an'  one  of  'em  is  that  infantry  c^n  get 
in  a  tight  place,  and  cut  its  way  out  like  cavalry. 
Oh,  that  arm,"  he  said,  smiling,  seeing  nie  glance 
toward  the  wounded  member ;  "  I  suppose  I  shall 
have  to  wash  and  dress  it  like  a  baby  for  some- 
time.    It's  pretty  comfortable  now,  though." 

I  listened  respectfully  to  our  wounded  captain ; 
but  Crandall  was  heard  to  growl,  "Well,  we  did 
cut  out — them  that  weren't  cut  down." 

Captain  Grim  then  turned  to  me  and  said,  "  The 
Centerboro'  boys  all  did  well.     Stuck  to  it,  and 


AFTER    THE  BATTLE.  163 

obeyed  orders  like  old  soldiers,  and  I  am  proud  of 
my  men." 

I  winced,  and  replied,  "  I  guess  I  was  pretty 
well  frightened;  but  I  hope  I  didn't  show  it. 
Captain  !  " 

The  captain  smiled,  and  said,  "  There  wasn't  a 
man  of  us  who  did  his  duty  any  better  or  more 
coolly.  You  only  make  the  same  confession  that 
a  good  many  others  would  make  if  they  told  the 
truth." 

In  answer  to  my  inquiry  as  to  how  the  battle 
had  gone  on  the  right,  he  informed  me  that  Burn- 
side's  attack  was  not  made  early  enough,  and  then 
it  took  his  corps  four  or  five  hours  to  cross  the 
bridge  opposite  the  town  ;  and  when  he  had  ad- 
vanced he  understood  that  he  had  neglected  to 
protect  his  left  flank,  and  had  been  attacked  there 
by  a  Confederate  force,  and  compelled  to  fall 
back. 

It  is  now  known  that  the  attacking  column  of 
Confederates  which  decided  the  battle  under  Burn- 
side  on  our  left,  was  A.  P.  Hill's  division,  which 
liad  just  come  up  from  Harper's  Ferry,  having 
made  a  march  of  seventeen  miles  that  afternoon. 
Thus  it  was  that  twice  that  day  at  Antietam  a 
Federal  division  was  broken  for  want  of  protec- 
tion to  its  flanks,  —  once  under  Sumner,  and  again 
under  Burnside. 

There  was  some  firing  on  our  front,  but  not 
active   battle,  all    the   morning ;    and   at  last  we 


164  JACK  ALDEN. 

heard  that  a  truce  to  bury  the  dead  had  been 
agreed  upon.  It  is  now  known  that  Lee  used  the 
time  so  gained  to  make  preparations  for  his  retreat 
across  the  Potomac. 

That  day  we,  with  others,  went  out  on  the 
field  to  bury  the  dead  and  care  for  the  wounded ; 
and  sorrowful  indeed  were  the  sights  that  met  our 
eyes.  The  private  soldier,  concentrating  his  atten- 
tion to  the  small  focus  of  individual  action,  does 
not,  during  a  battle,  see  the  terrible  whole  which 
is  presented  to  liis  sight  when  afterwards  passing 
over  the  field.  In  the  cornfield  where  Hooker 
had  attacked  and  receded,  the  sight  was  dreadful. 
Friend  and  foe  lay  side  by  side,  and  reddened  the 
blades  of  corn  with  their  blood. 

On  the  left,  in  a  sunken  road  which  had  been 
enfiladed  by  a  Union  battery  while  crowded  by 
Confederates,  tlie  dead  lay  in  masses,  piled  across 
each  other  as  they  had  fallen.  On  the  same  road 
men  were  found  suspended  on  the  board  fence, 
where  they  had  been  shot  while  attempting  to  get 
over. 

In  another  place,  where  the  Confederates  had 
made  a  desperate  stand,  they  lay  as  regularly  as 
if  they  had  fallen  on  dress  parade. 

Almost  every  wall  and  fence  was  lined  with  a 
windrow  of  the  dead.  All  over  the  field  were 
broken  caissons,  crushed  wheels,  muskets,  bayonets, 
dead  horses,  and  men ;  some  in  groups,  others 
lying  singly,  scattered  in  dreadful  confusion. 


AFTER   THE  BATTLE.  165 

Around  one  broken  limber-box  I  counted  twelve 
dead  Confederate  artillery  men,  who  stood  faith- 
fully to  their  work,  till  shot  down  in  the  perform- 
ance of  their  duty. 

Captain  Grim  had  thought  it  best  to  put  him- 
self under  a  surgeon  at  a  hospital  in  our  rear,  and 
late  that  afternoon  I  accompanied  him. 

"  'T  ain't  much  of  a  hospital,"  explained  Captain 
Grim ;  "  nothing  but  a  barn  and  house,  with  a 
few  out-buildings.  I'm  in  the  barn  ;  got  one  of 
the  horse-stalls  :  and  a  nice  shakedown  of  fresh 
hay  don't  go  bad  for  a  bed,  I  tell  you !  " 

"  I  don't  suppose  you  will  remain  there  long," 
I  said,  "  will  you  ?  " 

"  Well,  I'll  let  them  tinker  on  the  arm  while  we 
are  here ;  but  I  expect  to  go  when  the  company 
does.  They  want  to  send  me  to  Frederick  City, 
but  I  guess  I  won't  go.'' 

On  arriving  at  the  hospital,  I  found  a  hundred 
wounded  —  Confederates  as  well  as  Federals  —  in 
the  house  and  farm-buildings. 

On  the  barn  floor  men  were  laid,  some  twenty 
in  number,  in  two  rows,  next  to  the  stalls.  The 
barn  floor  was  the  choice  place  of  all  the  accom- 
modations for  the  wounded,  as  there  they  had  not 
only  shelter,  but  plenty  of  fresh  air. 

"  I've  noticed,"  said  Grim,  "  all  during  my  army 
experience,  that  wounded  men  recover  faster  in 
the  open  air  than  in  a  house,  barn,  or  tent,  which 
shows  that  pure  air  is  a  prime  thing  to  hasten  re- 


166  JACK  ALDEN. 

covery  from  wounds.  So  I've  split  the  difference, 
and  we  keep  the  doors  wide  open." 

After  visiting  the  barn,  my  attention  was  called 
to  the  rough  amputating-tables,  where  the  sur- 
geons, with  their  sleeves  rolled  up  to  the  shoulders, 
were  engaged  in  amputating  arms  and  legs,  and  in 
other  surgical  duties. 

Each  surgeon  was  attended  by  several  assist- 
ants. Squads  of  men  were  also  at  work  caring 
for  the  wounded  as  they  came  from  the  surgeon's 
hands. 

"  It  looks  cruel  and  bloody,  although  it  is  really 
a  work  of  mercy,"  said  Grim.  Then,  with  his 
bull-dog  smile,  he  added,  "  They  thought  of  taking 
my  arm  off,  but  concluded  to  let  it  be." 

The  most  desperate  cases  were  being  carried  to 
a  table  just  at  one  side  of  the  one  I  was  viewing ; 
and  to  this  Grim  turned,  saying,  — 

"  Here's  the  boss.  They'd  'a'  cut  my  arm  off 
but  for  him." 

The  surgeon  mentioned  was  carefully  drawing 
together  the  bones  of  an  arm  (from  which  he  had 
removed  the  shattered  pieces)  with  a  silver  wire. 
"A  case  of  resection,"  I  heard  him  say  to  his 
attendant.  "  I  think  he'll  be  able  to  use  his  arm 
by  and  by  nearly  as  well  as  if  the  whole  bone  were 
there."  I  at  once  recognized  the  voice  as  that  of 
my  old  friend  Dr.  Milner.  I  spoke  to  him ;  and  he 
recognized  me  at  once,  saying,  "Well,  Jack,  at  my 
old  business,  you  see ! "     Then,  after  a  moment, 


AFTER   THE  BATTLE.  167 

as  another  subject  for  amputation  was  brought  to 
his  table,  he  said,  "You'll  find  May  in  the  house 
there;  go  in  and  see  her.  She's  got  her  hands 
full.  She'll  be  glad  to  see  you.  We  came  over 
here  from  Frederick  only  yesterday.  She  was  one 
of  my  helpers  for  a  while,  but  had  too  mucli 
sympathy  for  the  men  under  the  knife  to  be 
first-class." 

I  turned  to  the  house,  and  stood  at  the  open 
door  of  a  large  room,  unobserved,  for  a  while,  look- 
ing at  Miss  May  as  she  softly  moved  about  like 
a  ministering  angel  among  our  poor  fellows.  To 
all,  as  she  gave  them  attention,  she  gave  hopeful 
smiles,  which,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  filled  the  room 
with  sunshine  and  with  a  spiritual  atmosphere, 
brighter  than  sunshine  itself. 

I  had  expected  to  see  her  worn  with  her  dread- 
ful work ;  but  when  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  her  face 
it  was  serene  and  healthful,  but  it  also  had  a  new 
beauty  which  seemed  to  come  from  within,  as  light 
is  seen  through  a  transparency. 

"Miss  Milner!  "  As  I  called  she  turned;  and,  on 
recognizing  me,  her  face  lit  up  with  a  lovely  smile, 
and  she  extended  her  hands  in  welcome.  She  had 
grown  mature,  and  was  more  beautiful  than  ever; 
but  talked,  after  her  first  greeting,  as  she  went 
from  patient  to  patient,  in  her  old  sunny,  familiar 
way. 

The  poor  wounded  fellows  followed  her  with 
their  eyes  as  she  went  about  tlie  room,  as  if  the 


168  JACK  ALDEN. 

very  sight  helped  them  to  bear  their  pain ;  and  one 
young  Confederate  said,  looking  towards  her,  "  It 
seems  to  me,  Yank,  that  she's  an  angel !  " 

I  spoke  to  him  about  his  wound,  and  was  not 
long  in  discovering  that  he  was  the  same  wounded 
officer  that  we  had  brought  in  on  the  evening  of 
the  battle.  I  had  a  friendly  talk  with  him;  and  he 
said,  "  I'm  a  Virginian,  sar.  Proud  of  it,  sar ! " 
And  then  with  an  air  of  patronage,  said,  "  I  won't 
forget  you." 

During  my  conversation  with  Miss  May  I  learned 
that  she  and  her  father  had  been  at  Fairfax,  and 
afterward  at  Frederick  City,  attending  to  the 
wounded. 

"Miss  May,"  I  ventured  to  say,  "it  is  very 
kind  and  good  of  you  to  attend  to  these  poor 
fellows ;  but  is  it  quite  the  proper  place  for  a 
young  lady  like  you?" 

She  turned  her  flashing  eyes  on  me,  and  said 
sharply,  "I  don't  care  whether  it  is  proper  or 
■not!"  Then  added  more  softly,  "It  is  merci- 
ful, and  work  that  an  angel  might  do  among 
suffering  men.  I  don't  think  of  myself.  If  I 
did  I  couldn't  do  this.  But  where  will  I  ever 
have  a  chance  to  do  so  much  good  again?" 

There  was  around  her  such  an  atmosphere  of 
purity,  and  in  her  face  shone  an  iridescent  light 
as  if  of  heaven  itself,  that  I  could  only  stammer 
out  an  excuse  for  my  question. 

"God  bless  ye,  mim!"  said  a  wounded  Irish 


AFTER   THE  BATTLE.  169 

soldier;  "yer  eyes  is  all  the  light  we  want  in 
this  room ! " 

May  laughed,  and  said  teasingly,  "  But  you 
wanted  to  light  your  pipe  just  now,  Mike ;  and 
my  eyes  would  have  been  a  poor  substitute  for 
the  matches  I  gave  you/' 

"  Whin  ye's  near  enough  to  light  me  pipe  by 
the  eyes  of  ye,"  said  Mike,  "  shure,  I  can  do  with- 
out smoking." 

I  stayed  for  an  hour,  and  then,  God  forgive  me, 
was  almost  jealous  of  the  attentions  she  lavished 
on  those  poor  boys,  yet  still  blessing  her  in  my 
heart  for  her  goodness  to  my  unfortunate  com- 
rades. 

I  was  bidding  her  good-day  when  the  doctor 
came  in ;  and  then  remembering  about  meeting 
Raymond,  I  said,  "  By  the  way,  Doctor,  I  saw 
your  friend  Raymond  at  Frederick  City." 

"Ah!"  ejaculated  the  doctor,  glancing  signifi- 
cantly at  May.     "What  was  he  doing  there?" 

"  Selling  newspapers,"  I  replied ;  "  and  he  was 
dressed  in  an  old  suit,  and  had  on  a  slouch  hat 
drawn  down  over  his  eyes.  He  was  either  dead 
broke  or  disguised.  Looks  to  me  as  if  he  was 
acting  the  part  of  a  rebel  spy." 

The  doctor  smiled  and  looked  towards  Miss 
May,  who,  I  thought,  seemed  confused.  Neither 
made  any  reply,  but  turned  the  conversation ;  and 
by  that  I  inferred  that  they  had  seen  him,  or  had 
known  of  his  being  in  Frederick  City. 


170  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  What  is  it,"  I  queried  to  myself,  "  that  they 
know  about  him?  "  It  is  not  possible  that  either 
the  doctor  or  Miss  May  is  disloyal  ?  No ;  that  is 
impossible ! "  And  so  I  dismissed  the  matter  from 
my  further  consideration  as  I  bade  them  good-day. 


THE   UNEXPECTED.  171 


CHAPTER    XV. 

THE   UNEXPECTED. 

The  day  after  the  battle,  McClellan,  although 
urged  by  his  corps  commanders  to  attack  the 
enemy  at  once,  granted  Lee  a  truce  for  the  day, 
in  which  to  bury  his  dead.  It  was  generally  ex- 
pected by  men  of  all  ranks  that  on  the  morning 
of  the  18th  of  September  the  battle  would  be 
renewed. 

The  day,  however,  was  spent  in  burying  the 
dead,  bringing  up  re-enforcements,  and  making 
preparations  for  the  expected  battle. 

When  the  morning  of  another  beautiful  day 
dawned,  we  were  aroused  at  an  early  hour,  and 
ate  our  breakfasts  with  the  confident  expectation 
of  at  once  attacking  the  Confederates. 

"  Spect  we  shall  go  for  them  Johnnies,  an' 
finish  'em  up,  or  be  finished  up  by  'em,  pretty 
soon,"  said  Corporal  Osgood,  in  the  growling 
tone  characteristic  of  an  old  soldier.  "  I  wish 
Captain  Grim  was  with  us ! " 

"  The  first  lieutenant,"  I  remarked,  "  is  in  com- 
mand, I  suppose  ! " 

"  Ye-e-s  I  "    said    Osgood,  shutting  one  eye    as 


172  JACK  ALDEJSr. 

if  to  tighten  some  invisible  screw  of  thought 
thereby,  puffing  at  his  pipe  contemplatively,  and 
speaking  between  whiffs.  "He's  young, — got 
grit  enough.  Lacks  judgment,  perhaps ;  makes 
men  toe  the  mark,  though :  he'd  stand  up  and 
be  shot  down's  if  that's  what  he's  made  for  —  and 
plague  take  it !  he  expects  everybody  else  to  do 
it,  and  like  to  do  it,  too !  Well,  j^es,  he  is  good. 
Pious,  did  yer  say  ?  Well,  I  guess  !  Pray  the 
harness  right  off  a  mule.  I  heard  him  prayin'  fer 
me  once,  after  one  of  my  swearin'  fits  ;  kinder 
made  me  'shamed.  What's  up?"  he  exclaimed 
excitedly,  jumping  to  his  feet,  and  standing  with 
pipe  in  hand.     "What's  that  cheerin'  for?" 

From  the  direction  of  Sharpsburg  there  came 
cheers,  at  first  faintly  borne  on  the  air,  but  grow- 
ing louder  and  louder  every  moment. 

"Humph!"  said  Add;  "guess  it's  McClellan 
riding  along  the  lines !  " 

"  No  't  ain't,"  said  Osgood.  "  It  comes  from  too 
many  directions.     Do  you  hear  that  ?  " 

A  little  later  we  learned  that  the  Rebel  army 
had  retreated  from  Sharpsburg  across  the  Potomac 
during  the  night,  and  that  it  was  the  reception 
of  this  news  that  caused  the  cheering  that  we  had 
heard. 

"  Can't  see  anything  to  cheer  at,"  said  Crandall 
grimly.  "  The  rebs  have  given  us  the  slip,  an' 
they  must  have  been  kinder  used  up  or  they 
wouldn't   have   been  in  such  a  hurry.     The  fact 


THE   UNEXPECTED.  173 

that  they've  got  away  shows  that  we  had  ought 
to  have  been  after  them  before  this." 

It  is  now  known  that  Lee's  army  was  at  this 
time  in  very  bad  shape,  and  that  it  was  only 
because  of  good  luck  and  good  lighting,  and  our 
general's  blunders,  that  he  had  held  his  lines 
intact  on  the  17th  of  September.  He  had,  in  his 
campaign  against  Pope,  lost  thirty  thousand  of  the 
seventy  thousand  men  that  made  up  his  army  when 
he  left  Richmond,  and  was  so  badl}^  crippled  by  the 
battle  just  fought,  that  he  used  the  truce  granted 
by  McClellan  to  make  preparations  for  retreat. 

It  is  now  apparent,  that,  liad  he  been  pushed 
on  the  18th  with  all  the  resources  at  our  com- 
mand, he  must  have  been  beaten,  and  possibly 
annihilated. 

Tactically  Antietam  was  a  drawn  battle  ;  but 
to  an  invader  a  drawn  battle  is  itself  a  defeat. 
It  compelled  Lee  to  abandon  the  invasion,  and 
gather  and  recuperate  his  shattered  army  in 
Virginia.  He  had  started  out  on  this  campaign 
with  high  aspirations,  and  had  been  compelled 
to  turn  back,  his  hopes  and  plans  defeated,  — 
driven  fi-om  Maryland. 

Fault  has  been  found  with  McClellan  for  not 
urging  the  fight  on  the  18th  of  September.  He 
formed  his  judgment  on  what  he  then  knew,  and 
not  on  what  he  learned  afterwards ;  and  in  this 
violated  no  received  principles  of  war. 

It   is   claimed  b}'    the    Confederates,  that  they 


174  JACK  ALDEN. 

fought  the  battle  with  less  than  forty  thousand 
men;  yet  on  the  20th  of  the  October  following 
they  had  67,808  men  on  the  rolls  of  the  army. 
The  Richmond  Examiner  of  September  20th  credits 
Lee  with  sixty  thousand  on  the  field  of  Antietam. 

Lee's  army  no  doubt  lost  largely,  as  he  claims, 
by  desertion ;  but  probably  not  a  larger  propor- 
tionate number  than  did  the  Federals.  It  is 
doubtful  if  our  army  had  over  sixty  thousand 
men  present  for  duty  on  that  field.  They  at- 
tacked the  Confederates  in  a  strong,  defensive 
position  selected  by  Lee  himself,  considering 
which,  this  does  not  show  a  large  disproportion 
in  the  forces  engaged ;  especially  when  we  con- 
sider that  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Corps,  numbering 
in  all  nearly  thirty  thousand  men,  were  but  little 
used. 

That  morning  I,  with  Add,  went  over  the  field 
where  the  battle  had  raged,  and  saw  its  heart- 
sickening  work.  Squads  of  Union  men  were 
burying  the  dead.  Wheie  the  names  of  these 
were  known,  the  graves  were  rudely  marked  with 
headboards,  mostly  made  from  cracker-boxes. 
Hundreds  of  Confederates  lay  on  the  field  still 
unburied.  It  is  officially  claimed  that  over  two 
thousand  of  them  were  buried  by  Union  troops. 

In  the  woods  by  the  Hagerstown  pike  they  lay 
singly  or  in  groups  among  the  ledges  and  by  the 
fences  where  they  had  fought. 

The  jjeople  of  Sharpsbui-g  who  remained  there 


THE   UNEXPECTED.  175 

seemed  g-lad  to  see  the  Union  soldiers,  and  ex- 
liibited  their  joy  by  bringing  out  their  hidden 
stores  of  cake  and  pies  for  our  entertainment. 
They  seemed  to  have  no  tender  remembrances  of 
tlieir  Confederate  guests. 

Said  one  woman,  "  Thank  God,  them  thieves 
have  gone !  They  ate  up  everything  I  had  in 
my  house." 

"  Where,"  I  inquired,  "  were  you  ?  " 

"  Down  in  my  ceUar,"  she  said,  with  tears  of 
vexation  in  her  eyes ;  "  and  that  was  the  meanest 
thing  about  it !  They  advised  me  to  go  down 
there,  'cause  they  said  it  was  the  safest  place  in 
the  house;  and  then  they  ate  up  all  my  victuals, 
and  carried  off  everything  in  the  house,  even  my 
best  dress." 

"  Marm,"  said  Add  respectfully,  but  with  a 
humorous  twinkle  in  his  eyes,  "  my  experience 
is,  that  when  a  soldier  is  hungry  his  conscience 
don't  work,  —  grub  gets  the  best  of  it ;  and  then 
they  ain't  particular,  neither,  where  their  grub 
comes  from,  so  long  as  they  git  it.  But  as  for 
dresses,  —  well,  I  guess  that  was  an  afterthought 
of  them  Johnnies." 

The  woman  showed  us  a  part  of  her  dwelling 
where  shell  had  exploded  during  the  action,  while 
her  fence  had  in  it  marks  of  bullets,  evidently 
fired  by  Union  troops.  The  limbs  and  twigs 
of  an  apple  orchard  had  been  trimmed  of  their 
leaves. 


176  JACK  ALDEN. 

In  one  of  the  churches  there  were  a  number 
of  desperately  wounded  Confederates.  It  was  the 
part  of  mercy  as  well  as  good  sense  to  leave 
such  behind,  since  their  removal  would  have  en- 
dangered their  lives,  while  proper  medical  atten- 
tion, which  they  were  sure  to  receive  from  our 
surgeons,  would  save  many  of  them. 

The  wounded  were  in  a  pitiable  condition,  hav- 
ing received  only  casual  attention  from  any  one 
since  the  previous  evening.  Add  and  I  brought 
them  water,  and  gave  them  all  the  food  we  had 
in  our  haversacks. 

One  of  these  wounded  men  was  a  young  Con- 
federate artillery  officer,  not  over  twenty  years 
of  age.  I  gave  him  water,  and  was  turning 
away,  when  he  said, — 

"  Now  will  you  please  get  me  something  to 
eat?  I'm  hungry."  His  look  and  appeal  were 
so  straightforward  and  frank,  that  I  replied, 
"I'll  try." 

So  I  went  to  a  house  near  by,  and  bought  some 
bread,  eggs  and  milk  and  butter,  and  returned  to 
the  poor  fellow.  After  eating,  and  drinking  some 
milk,  he  said,  "  That's  right  good,  and  I  feel 
better  already." 

"  It  will  give  you  fever,"  I  said,  "  to  eat  too 
heartily." 

He  smiled,  and  replied,  "  I  am  posted  in  such 
matters ;  my  father  is  a  surgeon.  I  needed  this 
food,  and  feel  that  now  I  shall  get  around   all 


THE    UNEXPECTED.  177 

right.  Our  surgeon,"  he  said  with  a  smile, 
"  thought  I  wouldn't  need  anything  long.  I 
am  going  to  make  a  live  of  it,  though,  if  I  have 
got  a  bullet  right  through  me." 

There  was  something  very  attractive  and  manly 
about  the  fellow,  and  I  somehow  felt  that  I  had 
known  him  a  much  longer  time  than  a  few  mo- 
ments. Getting  some  hay  from  a  neighboring 
barn  to  make  him  a  more  comfortable  bed,  and 
filling  my  canteen  for  him,  I  gave  it  to  him,  trust- 
ing to  luck  to  find  another  on  the  battle-field. 

As  I  turned  to  leave,  he  said,  pointing  to  my 
name  'printed  in  ink  on  the  canteen  strap,  "  Is 
that  your  name?" 

"Yes,"  I  replied. 

"  Well,  I  shall  know  you  if  I  ever  meet  you 
again,  John  Alden."  Then  extending  his  hand, 
he  said,  "  Thank  you.  It's  all  I've  got  to  give, 
so  I  owe  you  something." 

On  my  return  I  passed  down  a  road  on  the  east 
of  the  town,  and  thence  across  lots  to  the  Hagers- 
town  road.  Just  before  I  reached  it  my  attention 
was  attracted  by  the  whinny  of  a  horse.  It  was  a 
wounded  mare  wliich  had  been  fastened  by  a  long 
halter  to  a- broken  artillery  ammunition  box.  The 
poor  creature  had  eaten  the  grass  close  to  the 
ground  for  a  radius  of  six  or  seven  feet.  Her 
look  was  almost  human  in  its  pitiful,  pleading 
expression,  which  said  as  plain  as  speech  could 
say,  "  Can't  you  help  me  ?  " 


178  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  Shoot  the  poor  thing,"  said  Add,  "  and  put 
her  out  of  her  misery  !  "  But,  as  we  did  not 
have  our  muskets  with  us,  this  could  not  be 
done.  I  untied  her,  however,  and  slowly  led  her 
to  a  pool  near  by,  where  she  drank  as  if  she 
had  been  without  water  for  a  long  time. 

There  were  two  ugly  wounds  in  her  left  shoul- 
der and  in  her  leg ;  but,  although  she  limped 
badly,  I  thought  the  bone  had  not  been  broken. 
As  there  was  good  grass  near  the  pool,  I  turned 
her  loose,  and  she  at  once  began  to  feed.  As 
I  turned  to  leave,  the  creature  whinnied  and  came 
hobbling  towards  me,  as  if  to  follow.  Th^-e  was 
such  an  appealing  look  in  her  eyes,  that  I  re- 
turned, petted  and  talked  to  her,  and  examined 
more  minutely  her  wounds.  One  was  a  bullet- 
wound,  and,  although  clotted  with  blood,  I  could 
see  that  the  bullet  had  passed  through  the  lower 
part  of  the  leg. 

The  other  was  ragged  and  ugly,  and  was  evi- 
dently the  work  of  a  piece  of  shell.  I  was  now 
loath  to  leave  her,  and  said  to  Add,  "  I'll  get 
her  up  to  camp  or  to  the  hospital !  " 

Add  laughed,  and  said,  "  Well,  you've  got  a 
nightmare ;  but  I  won't  wait  till  night  for  you," 
and  started  on.  Meanwhile  I  led  the  little  mare 
slowly  along  to  the  pike,  and  then  up  the  road, 
until  I  came  to  the  house  and  barn  where  Dr. 
Milner  was.     This  took  more  than  an  hour. 

I  found  both  the  doctor  and  Miss  May  busy 


The  creature  wliinnieil  and  came  hobbling  towards  me." 
—  Pasre  178. 


THE    UNEXPECTED.  179 

with  their  patients.  After  the  usual  greeting,  I 
heard  a  voice  from  the  corner  of  the  room,  as 
if  some  one  was  trying  to  attract  my  attention, 
and  presently  May  said,  "  Here's  a  man  who 
knows  you  by  your  voice.  He  says  you  helped 
him  off  the  field  in  the  night." 

The  wounded  man  proved  to  be  the  Confeder- 
ate officer  we  had  found  near  the  broken  caisson, 
and  had  brought  in  the  night  after  the  battle. 
He  was  doing  well,  and  seemed  very  grateful  for 
the  help  he  had  received  from  "you  uns,  Yanks," 
as  he  called  us. 

After  telling  Dr.  Milner  and  Miss  May  about 
the  wounded  Confederates  I  had  seen  at  the 
church  in  Sharpsburg,  and  specially  mentioning 
the  young  officer  to  whom  I  had  given  my  can- 
teen in  the  church,  I  asked  them  to  visit  the  poor 
fellows. 

"  Humph  !  "  said  the  doctor.  "  There  are  lots 
of  country  doctors  and  citizens  fooling  around 
here,  and  if  they  don't  manage  to  kill  those  fel- 
lows down  in  Sharpsburg  before  I  get  there  I'll 
do  what  I  can  for  them." 

After  this  conversation  I  ventured  to  make 
known  my  principal  errand,  which  was  to  get 
Miss  May  interested  in  the  liorse.  So  I  told  her 
the  incident  rather  more  in  detail  than  I  have 
given  it  here. 

I  must  have  told  the  story  well ;  for  the  phleg- 
matic doctor  looked   interested,  and   tears   filled 


180  JACK  ALDEN 

Miss  May's  eyes.  I  concluded  by  saying,  "  Come 
out  and  see  her;  she  is  a  beautiful  little  crea- 
ture." They  both  followed  me  to  the  barn.  Dr. 
Milner  carefully  examined  the  wounds  of  the 
horse,  and  finally  said,  "  Pretty  bad  wounds,  but 
she'll  come  around  as  good  as  new  after  a  while, 
if  they  are  dressed  properly.  What  say.  May  ? 
Will  you  take  care  of  her  ?  " 

May,  who  had  been  petting  and  admiring  her, 
said,  "  Yes ;  oh,  yes !  And  how  good  of  you,  Alden, 
to  bring  her  here  !  " 

"  You  see.  Jack,  all  is  fish  that  comes  to  our 
net,"  said  the  doctor  teasingly.  "  If  one  wants 
to  recommend  himself  to  May,  he  must  get  half 
killed,  or  find  something  as  a  substitute." 

Miss  May  had  already  begun  with  basin  and 
sponge  to  dress  the  mare's  wounds ;  and  the  in- 
telligent creature  seemed  to  understand,  and  to 
appreciate  her  kindness. 

I  now  remembered  that  I  had  not  met  Captain 
Grim  ;  but  as  I  was  inquiring  of  the  doctor  for 
him  he  came  up. 

"  You  want  to  keep  pretty  still,  and  not  hurt 
that  arm,  Captain,"  said  the  doctor,  rather  crossly, 
I  thought.  "  Your  wound  will  be  all  right  in  two 
or  three  months." 

"  Months,  Doctor  !  "  exclaimed  Grim.  "What's 
the  matter  with  my  doing  duty  now  ?  " 

"  Humph  !  "  ejaculated  the  surgeon ;  "  you  are 
as  uneasy  as  a  stump-tailed  bull  in  fly-time,  and 


THE    UNEXPECTED.  181 

if  you  ain't  careful  you'll  have  trouble.  Let  me 
see." 

The  doctor  unrolled  the  bandages,  and  exclaimed 
crossly,  "  Just  as  I  expected,  inflamed  and  irri- 
tated! Haste  makes  waste.  Captain.  You'll  lose 
that  arm  if  you  are  not  more  easy  with  it ;  then 
't  will  take  a  year  to  cure  you,  and  cost  a  limb 
besides." 

The  captain  listened  with  his  bull-dog  smile,  and 
said,  "  Well,  I  suppose  I  am  under  orders,  and  I 
mustn't  waste  Uncle  Sam's  property ;  kinder  guess 
I  had  better  go  a  little  slower." 

"  You  are  to  go  to  Frederick  City  Hospital  from 
here,"  said  Dr.  Milner.  "I  know  the  head  sur- 
geon there,  and  will  speak  a  good  word  for  you." 

When  I  returned  to  the  yard.  Miss  May  was 
just  completing  her  Avork  for  the  horse,  with  beau- 
tiful solicitude,  by  winding  a  bandage  around  the 
foreleg. 

"She  has  been  made  a  great  pet  of  by  some  one," 
said  May. 

Before  leaving  I  once  more  commended  the 
wounded  officer  at  Sharpsburg  to  her  care,  and 
said,  "  My  pass  has  almost  expired,  and  I  must 
report  for  duty  once  more."  I  went  to  the  horse 
and  petted  her  affectionately,  and  said  to  Miss 
May,  "  Take  good  care  of  the  little  beast." 

I  shook  hands  with  May,  and  was  moving  awa}'", 
when  the  intelligent  creature  whinnied,  as  if  to 
say,  "  Don't  leave  me." 


182  JACK  ALDEN. 

"I  declare,  I'm  jealous,"  said  May.  "She  has 
fallen  in  love  with  you."  And  I  knew  by  the  ten- 
der look  in  Miss  May's  eyes  that  the  little  mare 
would  lack  no  care. 

I  returned  to  the  regiment,  and  gave  Lieutenant 
Mason  a  message  from  Captain  Grim.  Later  I 
met  Sergeant  Crandall,  who  seemed,  by  the  ex- 
pression on  his  face,  to  have  unusual  worry  on 
his  mind. 

"  Look  here:  Jack,"  he  called  out,  — "Sergeant, 
I  should  have  said,  —  I've  been  looking  for  you." 

"  Well,  here  I  am  !  "  I  exclaimed  nervously,  for 
I  was  alarmed.     "  What  is  it?  " 

"  Well,  see  here,  I've  been  recommended  by  the 
colonel  as  second  lieutenant,  plague  it !  I  should 
make  a  purty  kinder  of  a  sorter  looking  second 
lieutenant,  shouldn't  I?"  he  said,  almost  patheti- 
cally. "  I  make  a  tolerable  good  orderly-sergeant, 
but  what  a  thundering  fool  I'd  look  in  a  second 
lieutenant's  uniform!  I'm  goin'  to  ask  Captain 
Grim  to  send  in  your  name  instead  of  mine,  if 
you're  willin'." 

"  Me  !  "  I  exclaimed ;  "  I  have  all  I  can  do  to  fill 
the  place  of  second  sergeant,  and  I  mistrust  that  I 
only  rattle  around  in  it  as  it  is." 

"  Well,  now  you've  hit  it,  my  boy  !  It  takes  a 
thunderin'  sight  more  brains  to  fill  a  second  ser- 
geant's place  than  it  does  a  second  lieutenant's. 
Besides,  you'd  make  a  good  appearance  among 
the  officers,  and  I  should  be  as  awkward  as  a  cow 


THE    UNEXPECTED.  183 

in  a  schoolhouse  learning  g'ograpliy  !  Orderly-ser- 
geant's place  is  good  'nougli  for  me  !  I  don't  want 
promotion  backwards." 

His  distress  was  so  real,  that  to  gratify  him,  and 
because  I  believed  the  application  would  never 
amount  to  anything,  I  assented  to  his  appeal,  and 
for  the  time  thought  no  more  of  it. 

On  the  22d  we  marched  away  from  Antietam 
through  Sharpsburg. 

I  had  been  too  busy  for  any  chance  to  seek  either 
Doctor  Milner  or  his  daughter  again,  and  should 
not  have  seen  them  at  all  but  for  unexpectedly 
meeting  them  in  Sharpsburg  as  we  were  marching 
through.  We  made  a  brief  halt  near  the  Lutheran 
church,  where  I  visited  the  Confederate  wounded. 
Hearing  my  name  called,  I  turned  towards  the  side- 
walk, and  saw  both  the  doctor  and  his  daughter. 

"I've  got  some  news  for  you,"  said  May.  "  The 
boy  you  helped  in  the  church  is  my  brotlier  Jim  !  " 

"Yes,"  chimed  in  the  doctor;  "I  believe  you 
saved  his  life." 

"Forward  —  march!"  came  the  order,  and  there 
was  no  further  opportunity  for  conversation,  much 
as  I  wished  it. 


184  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

CAMPAIGNING   IN   VIRGINIA. 

We  were  sorry  to  bid  adieu  to  the  loyal  and 
hospitable  people  of  Sharpsburg.  More  especially 
did  I  regret  leaving  in  the  midst  of  so  interesting 
an  interview.  But  no  one  can  become  a  good 
soldier  until  he  has  learned  unquestioning  obedi- 
ence ;  and  he  becomes  valuable  as  such,  just  in 
proportion  as  he  studies  to  comprehend  and  obey, 
in  letter  and  spirit,  the  orders  of  his  superiors.  He 
seldom  knows  of  the  plans  or  purposes  of  such 
orders,  except  such  as  are  apparent  on  the  face 
of  them  :  he  makes  shrewd  guesses,  that  is  all. 

As  Captain  Grim  once  sarcastically  said,  when 
I  had  inquired  of  him  the  purpose  of  an  order, 
"  The  general  hasn't  called  on  me  to  explain  his 
plans  ;  a  man  is  a  better  soldier,  officer,  or  citizen, 
who  learns  to  execute  the  orders  he  receives  with- 
out trying  to  fix  them  over  because  he  don't  com- 
prehend them." 

Leaving  Sharpsburg,  we  marched  down  the  east 
bank  of  the  Potomac  ;  climbed  the  narrow,  crooked 
roads  that  wind  around  the  foot  of  the  mountains  ; 
passed  under  Maryland  Heights;  across  the  bridge 


CAMPAIGNING  IN   VIRGINIA.  185 

built  on  the  abutments  of  the  ruined  railroad 
bridge  ;  then  on  through  the  weather-stained  town 
of  Harper's  Ferry  to  Bolivar  Heights,  where  we 
encamped. 

Here  we  entered  upon  a  much-needed  season  of 
recuperation,  rest,  and  enjoyment.  We  swapped 
our  coffee,  tea,  hardtack,  and  other  provisions,  for 
eggs,  poultry,  and  milk.  We  also  made  delicious 
corncakes-by  grating  corn  from  the  cob  on  graters 
made  by  punching  holes  through  tin  plates  and 
half-canteens.  The  hominy  obtained  in  this  man- 
ner seemed  the  sweetest  I  had  ever  eaten. 

While  food  was  plenty  with  the  army,  the  vet- 
eran members  of  the  regiment  were  not  well  pro- 
vided with  shoes  and  necessary  clothing.  Their 
uniforms  Avere  faded  and  ragged ;  and  generally 
they  had  no  changes  of  underclothing,  a  thing  es- 
sential in  checking  the  encroachments  of  certain 
unpleasant  invaders. 

The  autumn  air  was  soft  and  beautiful  with 
sunshine.  The  people  on  the  Maryland  side, 
especially  in  Pleasant  Valley,  were  hospitable  and 
friendly.  They  sold  provisions  willingly,  and 
often  gave  to  the  soldiers  without  pay. 

The  reader  may  not  understand,  unless  I  ex- 
plain, that  when  a  soldier  has  no  real  duties,  his 
imagination  and  legs  both  gravitate  towards  some- 
thing good  to  eat.  After  obtaining  it,  he  cooks  it 
in  unheard-of  combinations  in  the  attempt  to  pro- 
duce a  sensation  for  his  palate.     It  was  while  on 


186  JACK  ALDEN. 

one  of  these  "  raids,"  as  Add  termed  them,  in  pur- 
suit of  the  almost  unattainable  luxury  of  some- 
thing new  and  strange,  that  we  found  ourselves 
on   Maryland  Heights. 

We  forgot  even  our  appetites  in  the  unexpect- 
edly beautiful  view  which  spread  out  before  us. 
At  our  feet,  weather-beaten  and  gray  from  war's 
neglect,  was  Harper's  Ferry,  with  the  surrounding 
hills  frowning  down  upon  it.  The  waters  of  the 
Shenandoah  meet  the  broader  Potomac  around  the 
promontory  where  the  little  town  is  built,  and 
then,  as  if  joyful  at  their  union,  flow  on  towards 
the  ocean,  flashing  and  gleaming  in  the  sunlight. 

Looking  towards  the  north-west,  we  saw  the 
Union  encampments  dotting  with  white  the  vast 
furrow,  two  miles  from  edge  to  edge,  known  as 
Pleasant  Valley.  Mingled  with  the  white  tents 
were  cosey  farmhouses,  brick  mills,  barns,  and 
shocks  of  yellow  grain  and  corn,  green  fields,  dark 
woods,  mottled  orchards,  and  a  stream  gleaming 
like  a  silver  thread  through  the  lowlands.  Over 
all  this  hung  a  veil-like  haze  of  blue,  softening 
the  outlines  of  this  beautiful  picture  framed  in  by 
hills  rock-ribbed  with  age.  I  found  myself  uncon- 
sciously repeating,  as  I  stood  there,  Whittier's  beau- 
tiful verses,  — 

"  Yet  calm  and  patient  Nature  keeps 
Her  ancient  promise  well, 
Though  o'er  her  bloom  and  greenness  sweeps 
The  battle  breath  of  hell. 


CAMPAIGNING  IN   VIRGINIA.  187 

Still  in  the  cannon's  pause  we  hear 

Her  sweet  thanksgiving  psalm  ; 
Too  near  to  God  for  doubt  or  fear, 

She  shares  the  eternal  calm." 

Here  on  the  extreme  apex  of  the  Blue  Ridge, 
two  thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  we 
found  a  station  of  the  signal  corps.  It  was  an 
open  tent ;  and  on  it  was  posted  a  warning  not  to 
ask  questions  or  touch  the  instruments,  which 
showed,  as  Add  said,  that  a  good  many  New  Eng- 
land Yankees  had  been  there  before  us. 

The  man  of  the  signal  corps  was  talking  with 
an  invisible  station  far  away  on  the  southern  hills. 
The  talking  was  carried  on  with  flags.  A  flag 
with  lar^e  black  figures  on  a  white  background  is 
waved  so  many  times  to  the  right,  so  many  to  the 
left;  and  then  a  different  one  takes  its  place,  and 
rises  and  falls  in  turn.  By  these  combinations  in 
flags,  messages  of  from  one  to  three  words  a  min- 
ute are  signalled.  This  is  one  of  the  methods  by 
which  armies  communicate  with  each  other.  The 
stations  are  often  twenty  miles,  or  more,  apart. 

A  few  evenings  after  this,  while  we  were  on 
dress  parade.  Captain  Grim's  promotion  as  major 
of  the  regiment  was  read  in  general  orders.  Great 
satisfaction  was  expressed  by  most  of  the  members 
of  our  regiment  at  this  deserved  promotion,  al- 
though our  company  was  loath  to  lose  him  as  its 
captain.  Our  corps  commander  was  also  changed ; 
and  it  was  rumored   that  we  were  to  have   new 


188  JACK  ALDEN. 

brigade  and  division  commanders.  The  former 
was  to  be  an  officer  from  a  Western  regiment, 
whose  name  we  could  not  learn. 

I  was  introduced  to  this  officer  sooner  than 
official  etiquette  demanded,  because  of  a  scrape 
Add  got  into  while  on  one  of  his  favorite  "  raids." 

Near  our  quarters  was  a  fine  residence,  sur- 
rounded by  shade-trees,  with  an  attractive  row 
of  beehives  between  the  house  and  the  servants' 
quarters. 

I  knew  well  enough  by  casual  remarks,  and  by 
the  way  Add  looked  at  those  beehives,  that  his 
mouth  was  made  up  for  some  honey.  Now,  in  my 
experience  in  the  army,  it  had  always  seemed  that 
when  a  soldier  desired  anything  which  belonged 
to  a  peaceful  person,  he  began  by  endeavoring  to 
get  his  conscience  in  harmony  with  his  inclina- 
tions. The  usual  method  was  to  declare  the  pos- 
sessor an  "  old  Secesh."  Having  thus  satisfied 
his  conscience,  he  proceeded  to  take  that  which 
his  heart  craved. 

But  I  could  never  get  over  the  prejudice,  in 
war  or  peace,  that  when  a  person  takes  any- 
thing that  does  not  belong  to  him,  he  is  a  thief, 
"living  on  the  enemy,"  "foraging,"  or  any  other 
term  invented  to  cover  the  theft,  to  the  contrary 
notwithstanding.  So  when  Add  proposed  that 
I  should  join  him  in  stealing  a  beehive,  I 
refused. 

"  That  old  Secesh  has  got  more  venom  in  him 


CAMPAIGNING  IN  VIRGINIA.  189 

than  a  rattlesnake,"  said  Add;  "  FU  bet  he's  out 
with  his  shotgun  playing  guerilla  half  the  time 
nights.  I  went  there  to  try  and  buy  some  honey 
this  morning ;  said  he  hadn't  got  any.  Said  our 
general  had  engaged  his  quarters  there ;  that  was 
to  scare  me,  yer  see  !  " 

Soon  after  I  saw  Add,  accompanied  by  Tobin, 
go  in  a  matter-of-course,  businesslike  way  to- 
wards the  beehives,  throw  a  poncho  over  one  of 
them,  and  move  at  double-quick  away  with  it. 
Just  as  they  got  well  started,  a  bee  crawled  up 
Tobin's  sleeve  and  stung  him.  He  dropped  the 
hive  as  quickly  as  if  he  had  been  touched  with 
a  red-hot  iron ;  the  hive  capsized  on  the  ground, 
and  the  bees  came  out  to  make  inquiries. 

Add  threw  himself  on  the  ground,  and  they 
mostly  passed  over  him ;  but  the  duck-legged 
Tobin  ran,  with  the  angry  bees  striking  at  all 
parts  of  his  person.  Waving  his  arms  like  a  wind- 
mill, he  struck  at  the  assaulting  bees.  Before  him 
was  a  duck-pond.  This  pond  had  a  green  scum 
on  its  surface,  was  about  five  feet  deep,  and  had 
an  indescribable  sediment  at  its  bottom. 

To  get  out  of  the  way  of  the  bees,  Tobin  threw 
himself  into  this  pond  and  swam;  finding  the  bees 
still  stinging  him,  he  dived  ! 

This  was  not  all;  the  uproar  had  drawn  the 
owner  and  the  servants  from  the  house ;  and  Add 
and  Tobin  were  caught  in  the  act,  and  identified 
by  the  marks  put  upon  them  by  the  bees.     Add 


190  JACK  ALDEN. 

had  escaped  with  very  light  punishment,  having 
only  been  stung  on  his  nose  and  under  one  eye. 

The  old  gentleman  who  owned  the  hives  made 
a  complaint,  however,  to  the  new  general  of  our 
brigade,  who,  unknown  to  us,  had  arrived  that 
morning,  and  taken  up  his  quarters  there. 

The  general  sent  a  file  of  men  to  arrest  the 
culprits,  and  to  my  chagrin  I  was  included  in  the 
summons ;  for,  although  innocent  of  everything 
except  seeing  the  fracas,  I  was  near,  and  was  sup- 
posed to  be  an  accomplice. 

We  were  all  marched  under  guard  to  the  house. 
On  the  way  I  angrily  complained  to  Add  for 
bringing  me  into  what  I  called  a  "dirty  scrape." 
Tobin  was  dripping  with  tlie  filth  of  the  goose- 
pond,  and  was  far  from  savory,  while  his  face  was 
one  swollen  mass  of  bee-stings. 

" 'T  is  too  bad,  I  swan ! "  drawled  Add.  "  Here's 
Tobin  ain't  fit  to  go  into  high  society,  like  briga- 
diers ;  besides,  I  can't  take  my  oath  as  ter  who  he 
is,  he  looks  and  smells  so  unnatural.  'T  would 
take  that  whole  row  o'  plaguy  beehives  to  sweeten 
himr'' 

By  this  time  Tobin  had  got  near  enough  to 
Add  to  rub  some  of  the  filth  off  on  him,  saying 
in  mock  sympathy,  "  Sergeant,  how's  yer  eye?" 

On  the  back  veranda  sat  the  general,  smoking, 
and  making  himself  comfortable  with  liquid  re- 
freshments. The  guard  saluted;  so  did  we.  The 
general   returned  the   salute,  and  with  his   hand 


CAMPAIGNING  IN   VIRGINIA.  191 

waved  the  guard  back,  and  said  in  strangely  fa- 
miliar tones,  which  I  at  once  recognized,  — 

"What's  this  I  hear?  Stealing  from  this  good 
man  ?  Tut,  tut !  bad  business  !  Non-commis- 
sioned officers,  two  of  you  !  What  have  you  got 
to  say  for  yourselves?" 

He  threw  back  his  head,  swaying  it  from  right 
to  left,  and  with  a  humorous  compression  of  the 
lips  continued  "  What  shall  I  do  with  you,  gen- 
tlemen, when  you  break  all  the  Ten  Command- 
ments, and  would  break  more  than  ten  if  you 
could?  Whew!"  he  exclaimed,  ordering  Tobin 
to  get  farther  to  the  rear;  then  turning  to  me,  he 
asked,  "What  is  your  name.  Sergeant?" 

"John  Alden,  sir,"  I  replied. 

In  a  flash  he  recognized  me,  rose  to  his  feet, 
and  shook  hands  with  me  in  his  old  expansive 
fashion ;  for  the  new  general  was  Blusterson  of 
the  Industrial  Museum. 

He  turned  to  the  old  gentleman,  and  exclaimed, 
"  Why,  I  know  this  young  gentleman  and  all  his 
relations,  sir!  He  is  honor  and  honesty  itself!  I 
know  all  his  family!  Here,  I'll  do  myself  the 
honor  to  be  responsible  for  him,  and  pay  for  the 
honey,  sir !  "  And  with  this  he  waved  the  old 
gentleman  off  the  veranda.  Then  turning  to  me, 
he  said,  "Alden,  my  boy,  glad  to  see  you! "  Then 
to  Tobin  and  Add,  who  were  standing  in  open- 
mouthed  astonishment,  he  exclaimed,  "  Not  guilty ! 
But  don't  vou  do  it  again!      You  owe  it  to  the 


192  JACK  ALDEN. 

friendly  interest  of  Sergeant  Alden  that  you  are 
not  punished.     Go  to  your  quarters ! " 

When  they  had  gone  the  general  invited  me  to 
be  seated ;  and  at  his  request  I  told  him  the  whole 
story  of  the  raid  on  the  beehives.  He  laughed 
heartily  (for  he  had  a  keen  sense  of  humor),  de- 
claring it  was  worth  a  ten-dollar  bill.  The  only 
mention  of  the  Industrial  Museum  was  when  I 
spoke  of  the  notes  that  he  had  sent  me.  When  I 
explained  the  trouble  with  my  uncle  Richard,  and 
asked  him  to  make  the  notes  payable  to  my  order, 
he  at  once  promised  to  do  so.  Soon  after  tliis  I 
wrote  to  my  brother,  asking  him  to  send  them  to 
me  by  mail. 

"  Why  is  it,"  he  asked,  "  that  you  have  not  re- 
ceived a  commission  before  this  ?  " 

"  I've  been  recommended  as  second  lieutenant  of 
my  company,  General,"  I  replied ;  "  but  am  afraid 
I  am  not  qualified." 

"  Qualified  !  "  exclaimed  the  general.  "  We've 
got  to  take  a  load  on  our  shoulders  first,  and  then 
learn  to  carr}'^  it.  Dive  in,  and  trust  to  luck  about 
coming  out !  I'll  indorse  that  recommendation 
for  your  promotion,  only  I'll  make  it  first  lieuten- 
ant instead  of  second." 

"Lieutenant  Mason,"  I  said,  "holds  that  posi- 
tion in  the  company.  General." 

"  Mason ;  let  me  see,"  said  General  Blusterson, 
taking  a  memorandum  book  from  his  pocket,  and 
consultinor  it.     "  He's  been  recommended  for  ad- 


CAMPAIGNING  IN  VIRGINIA.  193 

vancement.  Is  he  a  friend  of  yours  ?  Well,  we'll 
have  him  commissioned  as  captain,  to  make  room 
for  you." 

By  this  time  some  of  the  general's  staff  had 
come  up ;  and  to  them  he  introduced  me  as  Lieu- 
tenant Alden,  adding,  "  He  hasn't  got  his  uniform 
yet."  Among  these  was  a  regular  army  second 
lieutenant  named  King;  one  of  those  young  fel- 
lows with  a  waxed  mustache,  and  a  conceited  air 
which  is  so  distasteful  to  men  who  pride  them- 
selves on  merit,  and  not  appearances. 

As  I  turned  to  go  to  my  quarters,  somewhat 
dazed  by  the  occurrences  of  the  morning,  the 
general,  as  he  returned  my  respectful  salute,  said, 
"  Come  again,  Lieutenant.  Shall  be  pleased  to  see 
you  when  I  am  not  officially  engaged." 

I  walked  from  the  veranda,  where  I  had  ex- 
pected arrest,  but  had  received,  if  not  promotion, 
the  promise  of  it. 

There  was  also  a  conflict  between  my  liking  for 
Blusterson  and  my  moral  disapproval  of  him. 
The  strong  magnetism  in  his  personality  controlled 
me  in  an  undefinable  way,  as  is  often  the  case 
where  the  character  of  the  magnet  is  at  variance 
with  our  sense  of  projjriety. 

Of  one  thing  I  had  no  doubt,  that  Blusterson 
would  keep  his  word,  and  would  recommend  me 
for  promotion.  Was  I  fit  for  the  place  ?  I  queried 
of  myself. 

Before  I  had  reached  my  quarters  I  had  deter- 


194  JACK  ALDEN. 

mined  to  accept  the  commission  if  it  came  to  me ; 
and  in  this  determination  I  was  influenced  by 
thoughts  of  how  I  should  appear  in  the  eyes  of 
Dr.  Milner  and,  —  never  mind  who. 

A  week  afterwards,  to  the  astonishment  of  my 
comrades,  my  name  was  read  in  general  orders 
as  first  lieutenant,  while  Lieutenant  Mason  re- 
ceived promotion  in  the  same  order  as  captain 
of  the  company. 

In  a  few  days  I  had  my  uniform ;  and  thence- 
forth military  etiquette  obliged  me  to  keep  up  an 
official  reserve  between  myself  and  my  old  ac- 
quaintances in  the  ranks.  A  second  lieutenant 
for  our  company,  named  Sinclair,  was  sent  to  join 
us.  He  had  seen  a  little  service  as  private  in 
an  artillery  regiment  stationed  near  Washington, 
but,  like  many  of  his  class,  had  shown  no  capacity 
for  his  position.  For  a  time  he  made  himself  very 
familiar  with  the  non-commissioned  officers  and 
men,  but  soon  exemplified  the  old  adage  that  "  fa- 
miliarity breeds  contempt."  It  was  discovered 
that  he  was  addicted  to  drink ;  and  at  one  time, 
when  reported  sick,  there  was  sly  talk  that  he  was 
drunk  in  his  quarters. 

General  Blusterson  proved  himself  a  very  able 
administrative  officer,  and  was  spoken  of  generally 
in  the  army  as  a  brave  man. 

We  remained  in  this  delightful  locality  until 
November  without  incident  of  special  note,  except 
a  visit  from  President  Lincoln.     He  was  dressed 


CAMPAIGNING  IN   VIRGINIA.  195 

in  a  black  suit,  and  his  tall  form  loomed  above 
the  heads  of  the  officers  surrounding  him.  His 
face  had  a  worn  look,  which  was  almost  pathetic 
in  its  sorrowfulness,  as  if  care  had  long  been  his 
constant  companion.  When  he  rode  down  our 
lines  his  feet  seemed  almost  to  dangle  to  the 
ground ;  and  his  person,  when  contrasted  with  the 
brilliantly  uniformed  men  around  him,  seemed 
very  homely  and  plain. 

By  the  last  of  October  the  army  began  to  move 
forward.  Most  of  the  troops  crossed  the  Potomac 
at  Berlin,  five  miles  below  Harper's  Ferry ;  but  we 
passed  up  the  Shenandoah  Valley,  and  through  the 
Blue  Ridge  at  Snicker's  Gap. 

McClellan  had  at  first  contemplated  pushing 
his  advance  against  Lee  directly  up  the  Shen- 
andoah Valley.  He  feared,  however,  that  should 
he  move  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  the  enemy,  find- 
ing the  way  clear,  would  again  cross  into  Mary- 
land. At  this  time,  however,  high  water  in  the 
Potomac  had  removed  this  danger,  and  left  the 
army  free  to  operate  on  the  east  side  of  the  Blue 
Ridge.  By  the  2d  of  November  he  crossed,  and 
advanced  due  south.  These  movements  were  skil- 
fully concealed  from  the  enemy  by  guarding  the 
passes  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  threatening  to  issue 
through  them.  Lee  was  thereby  compelled  to 
retain  Jackson  in  the  valley. 

On  the  7th,  while  on  the  march,  a  severe  snow- 
storm set  in,  and  that  night  we  shivered  with  cold 


196        ^  JACK  ALDEN. 

under  our  blankets.  We  reached  Warrenton  (the 
point  of  concentration  for  all  the  corps)  about  the 
9th  of  November,  and  went  into  camp. 

Lee  had  meanwhile  sent  half  his  army  forward 
to  Culpeper  to  oppose  McClellan's  advance  in  that 
direction,  while  the  other  half  was  still  west  of 
the  Blue  Ridge. 

McClellan  now  contemplated  moving  obliquely- 
westward,  and  interposing  his  army  between  the 
Confederate  divisions.  Before  he  could  thus  in- 
terpose, he  was  removed  from  command  of  the 
army  he  had  fashioned  into  a  mighty  host,  and 
which  under  him  had  received  its  first  baptism 
of  battle. 

The  general  appointed  by  President  Lincoln  to 
take  command  in  place  of  McClellan  was  Ambrose 
E.  Burnside.  We  were  in  camp  near  Warrenton 
when  the  change  occurred;  and  it  was  amid  the 
profound  sorrow  of  his  soldiers  that  McClellan 
took  leave  of  them. 

We  remained  here  for  some  ten  days,  during 
which  our  new  commander  consolidated  the  six 
corps  of  the  army  into  three  grand  divisions  of 
two  corps  each,  and  endeavored  to  gather  the 
reins  of  control  into  liis  hands. 

He  abandoned  the  McClellan  plan  of  operation, 
where  he  might  have  advantageously  attacked 
the  divided  enemy  by  a  few  miles'  march,  and, 
turning  back,  marched  to  another  field,  where  the 
Confederates  were  compelled  to  run  and  find  him. 


CAMPAIGNING  IN   VIRGINIA.  197 

Burnside  paralleled  by  this  move  the  conduct 
of  General  Dumourier  in  Holland,  when  in  1793, 
to  use  the  language  of  Jomini,  "  He  foolishly 
abandoned  pursuit  of  the  allies  to  transfer  the 
theatre  from  the  centre  to  the  extreme  left  of 
the  general  field." 

On  the  15th  we  marched  forward  rapidly  from 
Warrenton,  until  on  the  17th  of  November  we 
reached  Falmouth,  opposite  Fredericksburg,  and 
went  into  camp  in  the  pine  woods,  a  mile  from 
the  Rappahannock  River. 


198  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

ON   THE   KAPPAHANNOCK. 

Our  march  to  the  Rappahannock  was  unevent- 
ful to  me  except  in  one  particular.  Our  baggage- 
master  found  a  colored  boy,  about  seventeen  years 
of  age,  asleep  in  one  of  his  wagons,  and,  by  giv- 
ing the  poor  fellow  an  unmerciful  beating,  had  en- 
deavored to  make  him  understand  that  the  wagon 
was  not,  as  he  expressed  it,  "  meant  for  nigger 
lodgings."  The  boy  was  as  black  as  soot,  and 
almost  as  broad  as  long.  His  meek  submission  to 
the  beating  had  moderated  even  the  rage  of  the 
baggage-master,  and  I  soon  persuaded  him  to  let 
the  boy  off  without  further  punishment. 

"  What,"  I  inquired  of  him,  "  were  you  doing 
in  the  wagon?  " 

"  I'se  jist  run  away  from  ole  massa  Johnsing, 
back  dar  at  Charleston,  an'  I  toted  'long  wid 
you  alls ;  an',  boss,  it  was  right  smart  cold,  and  I 
got  into  de  wagon  an'  go  ter  sleep  'fore  I  knows 
it!" 

"  What  is  your  name  ?  " 

"  I'se  massa  Johnsing's  nigger  —  if  he  done  git 
me,  I  reckon  J  ain't  got  nudder  name  !  "     And  he 


ON   THE  RAPPAHANNOCK.  199 

rolled  his  eyes  with  a  solemn  grimace,  until  the 
whites  of  them  only  were  visible. 

"Didn't  your  master,"  asked  the  teamster,  "use 
you  well,  you  lampblack  ball?" 

"  Yes,  sar !  Gib  me  a  heap  more  to  eat  than  I 
got  since.  I  toted  wid  de  Yanks  all  de  way  fro' 
Charleston,  sar !  " 

"  Wouldn't  you  have  done  better,"  I  asked,  "  to 
have  stayed  at  home?" 

"  Golly,  boss !  I'se  run  away  to  freedom  !  " 

He  was  very  stupid,  but  not  stupid  enough  to 
be  devoid  of  human  instincts.  He  preferred  free- 
dom with  the  hardest  of  fare,  to  slavery  with  ease 
and  comfort. 

On  the  march  he  must  have  kept  pretty  good 
run  of  me  ;  for  at  night  I  found  him  snuggled 
outside  my  quarters,  in  an  old  horse-blanket,  fast 
asleep. 

He  attached  himself  to  my  fortunes  with  the 
tenacity  of  a  sticking-plaster;  and  it  proved  as 
useless  to  remonstrate  with  him  as  it  would  have 
been  to  have  scolded  my  shadow  for  following  me. 

He  either  really  had  no  name  other  than  that 
he  had  given  me,  or  for  politic  reasons  refused 
to  give  it. 

Add,  Avho  seemed  to  see  a  great  deal  that  was 
amusing  in  the  solemn  black-ball  of  a  fellow,  nick- 
named him  Rolly-Pooly ;  and  so,  for  the  lack  of 
a  better  name,  we  called  him  Roily.  He  could 
brush  a  coat,  black  boots,  and  get  chickens  and 


200  JACK  ALDEN. 

other  "  fixin's  "  in  the  most  barren  localities,  and 
where  other  foragers  reported  that  there  were 
none.  But  he  developed  one  very  inconvenient 
trait:  he  seldom  bought  anything  that  I  asked 
him  to  buy,  but  bought  anything  that  lie  fancied, 
and  never  returned  any  money  intrusted  to  him. 
His  reply  when  asked  what  he  gave  for  any  article 
would  be,  "  Golly  !  I  dun  forgot !  "  Or  he  Avould 
simply  roll  his  ej^es  solemnly,  until  nothing  but 
the  whites  could  be  seen,  and  remain  silent. 

About  the  17th  of  November  the  corps  arrived 
on  the  line  of  the  Rappahannock,  and  went  into 
camp  opposite  Fredericksburg,  in  the  woods  back 
of  the  Lacy  House,  where  General  Sumner,  then 
commanding  the  Right  Grand  Division,  had  taken 
up  his  quarters.  There  was  ascertained  to  be  a 
garrison  of  unknown  strength  in  the  city  opposite ; 
and  we  expected  that  General  Burnside  would 
order  these  divisions,  as  soon  as  it  was  possible,  to 
cross  the  river. 

General  Blusterson  had  said  to  General  Sumner, 
"  Give  me  some  axes,  and  five  or  six  New  England 
regiments,  and  I'll  put  a  bridge  across  the  river  in 
twenty-four  hours." 

It  is  presumed  that  Yankee  craft  (as  there  were 
at  that  time  twenty  New  England  regiments  in 
General  Sumner's  command)  was  not  lacking  for 
such  a  purpose,  and  that  under  a  man  like  General 
Blusterson  a  bridge  might  easily  and  rapidly  have 
been  built. 


ON  THE  RAPPAHANNOCK.  201 

The  reasons  that  have  been  given  by  writers  for 
not  crossing  the  river  at  that  time  are  that  the 
bridge  eqnipments  had  not  arrived ;  but  this  could 
not  have  been  the  real  reason,  for  by  the  27th  of 
November  there  were  the  materials  for  two  boat- 
bridges,  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  length, 
lying  near  us,  in  charge  of  the  New  York  Volun- 
teer Engineers. 

The  failure  to  make  a  crossing  sooner  was,  in 
my  opinion,  owing  to  the  indecision  of  General 
Burnside.  While  here  the  army  received  a  large 
mail ;  but  the  letter  from  my  brother,  containing 
the  notes  I  had  expected,  was  not  among  those  I 
received. 

About  this  time  Major  Grim  joined  us.  He 
looked  quite  well,  but  his  wound  was  not  en- 
tirely healed.  He  told  me  he  had  been  in  a 
Washington  hospital,  of  wliich  Dr.  Milner  was  in 
charge ;  that  Mrs.  Grim  had  come  to  Washington, 
and  was  still  there,  assisting  Miss  Milner  in  the 
hospital  work. 

"  That  there  son  of  Dr.  Milner's,"  said  Grim, 
"  has  given  them  lots  of  trouble." 

"I  thought,"  said  I,  "he  was  a  very  nice  fel- 
low !  " 

"  Oh,  'tain't  that !  "  explained  the  major.  "  He's 
a  first-rate  man ;  but  his  wound  cured  up  too 
quick,  and  then  he  was  declared  exchanged,  and 
insisted  upon  going  back  South  again,  although 
both  his  father  and  his  sister  wanted  him  to  stay 


202  JACK  ALDEN. 

North  until  the  war  is  over.  He  seemed  to  feel 
mighty  bad  to  go  ;  but  said  it  wasn't  a  matter  of 
preference,  but  honor  and  duty  compelled  him  to 
show  up  in  Richmond  again.  So  he's  gone  back ; 
and  you  see  what  kind  of  a  rebel  sardine  he  is  !  I 
respect  him  more  than  I  do  that  other  fellow, 
though,  that's  hanging  'round  the  hospital." 

"  Who,"  I  asked,  "  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,  that  black-eyed  fellow  you  saw  at  Fred- 
erick City  !  You  thought  he  was  a  spy.  Needn't 
worry  about  that  Raymond  fellow;  he'll  stick  to 
the  Union  lines  as  long  as  Miss  Milner  does." 

Seeing  the  dubious  look  on  my  face,  he  added,  "  I 
thought  that  would  put  a  bee  in  your  bonnet,  Alden. 
She  keeps  him  out  of  the  rebel  lines,  though." 

Our  regiment  was  put  on  picket-duty  opposite 
the  city,  where  the  narrow  river  flowed  between 
the  sentinels  of  the  two  armies.  The  Rebel  senti- 
nels here  wore  the  Federal  uniforms,  and  at  first 
we  thoupfht  them  our  men. 

"I  say,  Yank!"  shouted  one  of  them,  who  had 
put  on  a  Union  overcoat  which  he  took  from  the 
man  he  had  just  relieved  ;  "  if  you  alls  won't  shoot 
we  alls,  we  alls  won't  shoot  at  you  alls  !  " 

"  All  right !  ' '  was  the  response  from  our  picket. 
"  Fair  play  now,  Johnnie  !  " 

"  There's  a  dog-gonned  lot  of  you  alls  over 
there!     Where  ye  from?" 

"  We,"  shouted  back  Add,  "  are  the  574th  Mas- 
sachusetts !     Where  are  you  from  ?  " 


ON  THE  RAPPAHANNOCK.  203 

"  Mississippi,"  was  the  response.  "  We  alls  are 
Barksdale  men.  We  knew  there  was  a  powerful 
lot  of  Yanks,  but  didn't  know  thar  was  so  many 
from  Massachusetts." 

This  informal  truce  was  faithfully  kept,  not 
only  by  us,  but  by  all  who  succeeded  us  on  the 
picket-lines  on  both  sides. 

"What,"  shouted  one  of  them,  "are  ye  down 
hyer  fer,  anyway  ?  " 

"  Well,"  replied  Add,  who  enjoyed  the  novelty 
of  these  impromptu  interviews,  "  we  are  jest  goin' 
to  keep  you  rebs  shivering  'round  here  till  you 
freeze  to  death !  " 

"I'll  'low  'tis  mighty  cold,"  rejoined  the  Con- 
federate. "  You'un  Yanks  have  brought  yer 
blamed  Yankee  weather  with  yer ;  but  ain't  it 
'bout  time  we  uns  got  in  our  crap  o'  fitin'  fer 
the  season?  " 

"Look  here,  Johnnie!  this  is  the  kind  of 
weather  we  have  summers  up  where  we  come 
from.     We  don't  mind  it." 

There  was  a  laugh  heard  at  these  sallies,  and 
then  a  pause,  as  if  this  was  a  knock-down  ;  but 
one  of  them  finally  shouted,  "  When  you'un  Yanks 
come  over  here,  we'll  make  it  so  hot  fer  ye  that 
yer  won't  need  any  overcoats  forever!" 

"  And  them  Johnnies,"  said  Add  afterwards, 
"kept  their  promise  as  literally  as  they  did  the 
truce." 

An  exchange  of   coffee  for  tobacco,  and  hard- 


204  JACK  ALDEN. 

tack  for  pones  of  cornbread,  then  began,  by  means 
of  boards  rigged  np  with  sails,  rudders,  and  centre- 
boards, which  were  sailed  from  shore  to  shore. 
The  parties  to  these  exchanges  vied  with  each 
other  in  generosity,  and  the  best  kind  of  feeling 
seemed  to  prevail. 

It  was  through  this  means  that,  when  I  was  off 
duty  one  day,  there  came  an  open  letter  addressed 
to  me,  which  was  brought  to  my  quarters.  On 
reading  it  I  found  it  was  from  Captain  James 
Milner,  and  contained  a  few  grateful  words  to  me 
personally,  and  a  letter  to  Dr.  Milner,  which  the 
captain  requested  me  to  forward  to  his  father. 

This  was  about  the  28th  or  29th  of  November, 
and  was  the  first  intimation  we  had  that  Long- 
street's  corps  had  arrived  at  that  point.  We 
knew  that  Captain  Milner's  regiment  was  of  that 
corps. 

Shortly  after  this,  conversations  and  exchange 
of  courtesies  were  stopped  by  officers  on  the  other 
side. 

Every  day  there  were  new  indications  of  an 
impending  battle.  Among  these  were,  that  the 
streets  of  Fredericksburg  began  to  be  filled  with 
veliicles  of  all  kinds  and  patterns  loaded  with 
the  household  goods  of  the  people  who  were  mov- 
ing out  to  avoid  the  dangers  of  battle.  The 
Heights  back  of  the  city  each  day  grew  blacker 
with  men,  engaged  in  constructing  earthworks  and 
mounting  artillery. 


ON  THE  RAPPAHANNOCK.  .   205 

It  seemed  strange  to  more  tlian  mere  under- 
officers  and  privates,  that  if  an  attack  was-  con- 
templated by  our  general,  so  much  time  was  given 
the  Confederates  for  preparations.  It  has  since 
been  learned  that  Longstreet's  corps  of  Lee's 
army  did  not  arrive  at  this  point  until  the  27th 
of  November,  and  "  Stonewall "  did  not  arrive 
until  a  da}^  or  two  previous  to  the  battle. 

Opposite  to  us  the  shores  of  the  Rappahannock 
rose  abruptly  from  the  river  for  twenty  feet  or 
more,  and  then  gradually  ascended  to  the  centre 
of  the  city.  About  a  half  a  mile  back  of  the  city 
were  Marye's  Heights,  skirted  at  the  base  by 
sunken  roads.     On  the  Heights  were  other  roads. 

On  the  north  or  Federal  side  of  the  river  were 
Stafford  Heights,  rising  abruptly,  and  completely 
commanding  the  city  and  intermediate  plains.  On 
these  Heights  were  planted  one  hundred  and 
forty -seven  guns ;  and  on  these  General  Burnside 
depended  for  preventing  the  enemy  from  stopping 
the  construction  of  bridges  for  crossing  the  river. 

General  Blusterson  proposed  detailing  me  as  his 
aid,  if  Major  Grim  was  willing  and  could  spare 
me. 

"What,"  asked  the  major  familiarly,  "is  the 
matter  with  that  Captain  King  who  is  already  on 
your  staff?  " 

"  He !  He  really  thinks  he  is  what  his  name 
represents.  Yes,  he's  a  West  Point  man ;  but  the 
conceit  on   him   is   an  inch  thick.     He  is  one   of 


206  JACK  ALDEN. 

those  literary  fellows,  and  writes  verses  at  every 
girl  that  he  gets  sight  of.  He  likes  to  poke  sticks 
at  other  people,  but  don't  like  the  sticks  to  be 
sharpened  for  him." 

The  general  made  up  a  face,  as  if  some  of  the 
qualities  of  the  person  he  mentioned  had  run  across 
his  grain. 

Major  Grim  showed  liim  that  because  of  wounds, 
sickness,  and  furloughs  we  were  short  of  officers 
in  the  company ;  and  the  general  agreed  with  him 
that  I  had  better  remain  with  the  regiment. 

"  The  general  is  a  good  friend  of  yours,"  said 
Major  Grim  ;  "  but  an  aid  stands  no  great  chance 
of  promotion,  and  just  as  good  or  a  better  chance 
to  be  killed.  If  I  know  anything  about  men,  the 
old  general  is  a  fighter.  Any  one  can  see  that  he 
hasn't  a  cowardly  hair  on  him." 

For  more  than  a  month  we  lay  before  Fredericks- 
burg, the  enemy  gathering  like  swarms  of  ants  on 
the  opposite  hills,  without  a  movement  being  made 
by  our  army  to  cross  the  river.  It  was,  as  Add 
said  to  me,  "as  if  Burnside  was  saying  to  the 
enemy,  '  I'm  giving  you  plenty  of  time  to  fortify 
and  get  ready  for  us  before  I  surprise  you ! '  " 

It  grew  more  and  more  evident,  however,  that 
we  were  soon  to  cross  the  river  in  the  face  of  all 
this  preparation  to  receive  us. 

About  the  9th  of  December  there  was  held  a 
council  of  corps  and  brigade  commanders,  in  which 
want  of  confidence  in  Burnside  was  expressed. 


ON  THE  RAPPAHANNOCK.  207 

What  officers  know,  the  rank  and  file  usually 
know ;  and  old  soldiers  in  the  ranks  are  often 
quicker  to  see  a  peril  than  their  superiors. 

Althouofh  there  was  a  o^eneral  want  of  confi- 
dence,  yet  the  army  was  in  the  mood,  as  Major 
Grim  said,  "  To  obej'  orders,  if  they  broke  owners." 

On  the  10th  of  December  General  Blusterson 
came  on  duty  dressed  with  unusual  care.  His 
boots  shone,  and  his  buttons  had  an  extra  lustre, 
as  if,  as  Major  Grim  said,  "he  was  unwilling  to 
be  found  dead  with  a  dirty  shirt  on."  His  manner 
was  as  cheerful  and  happy  as  when  on  a  former 
occasion  he  discounted  his  notes  on  State  Street, 
and  left  Boston. 

Added  to  these  indications  of  a  crisis,  came  the 
order  to  issue  to  all  the  men  sixty  rounds  of 
cartridges   and  three   days'  rations. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  I  saw  the  bridge 
train  moving  towards  the  river,  which  ran,  dark 
and  silent,  between  the  hostile  armies,  giving  no 
hint  of    the  terrible  scenes   about   to  be   enacted. 

That  night,  on  the  heights  opposite  Fredericks- 
burg, I  could  see  a  semicircle  of  the  enemy's  camp- 
fires  shining  through  the  gathering  fog  and  gloom, 
like  the  red  glare  of  danger-signals. 

In  the  darkness  of  the  piorning,  on  the  11th  of 
December,  the  report  of  two  cannon  reverberated 
with  peculiar  distinctness.  They  were  the  signals 
of  the  enemy  for  concentration,  and  showed  that 
they  had  discovered  the  attempt  that  was  being 


208  JACK  ALDEN. 

made  to  throw  a  bridge  across  the  river  opposite 
the  town. 

We  soon  formed  in  ranks  and  marched  to  the 
river,  where  a  dark  fog,  like  a  funeral  shroud, 
hung  over  the  plains.  An  unfinished  bridge  swung 
in  the  current.  The  pontoniers  were  attempting 
to  finish  it.  As  fast  as  they  advanced  with  balks 
or  with  chess  for  covering  thera,  they  were  shot 
down,  and  fell  clattering  on  the  bridge  with  the 
boards  or  timber,  or  fell  into  the  river,  and  were 
borne  away  by  the  swift  but  silent  current.  The 
boat  parties  wei'e  shot  down  in  a  similar  manner. 

At  last  the  guns  on  Stafford  Heights  opened 
on  the  Mississippi  riflemen  sheltered  in  the  cellars 
and  buildings  of  the  town.  The  uproar  was  terri- 
ble; the  discharge  of  artillery  and  the  crash  of 
bombs  made  a  great  noise,  but  did  not  dislodge 
the  rebel  sharpshooters. 

Add  said  it  put  him  in  mind  of  the  time  when 
Uncle  Richard's  bull  attacked  a  beehive.  The 
bull  roared  and  pawed  the  earth,  but  it  didn't  hurt 
the  bees  any.  The  bombardment  of  a  place  is 
more  noisy  than  effective,  and  is  seldom  resorted 
to  unless  real  means  are  lacking. 

Tliere  were  several  hours  of  this  impotent  uproar, 
durinof  which  clouds  of  smoke  arose  from  burning: 
buildings  ;  and  yet  the  hornet-like  sharpshooters 
of  the  enemy  stuck  undauntedly  to  their  work. 

About  eleven  o'clock  the  fog  cleared,  and  some- 
one at  headquarters  also  had  an  illumination  — 
of  common-sense. 


ON   THE  RAPPAHANNOCK.  209 

The  scows  on  which  the  bridge  was  to  be  con- 
structed were  filled,  pushed  off  from  the  shore, 
and  rowed  undauntedly  into  the  raining  fire. 
The  river  was  not  over  two  hundred  yards  wide, 
but  we  -saw  man  after  man  drop  his  oar  and  fall 
dead  from  his  seat  before  the  shore  was  reached. 
The  passage  was  won  with  comparatively  small 
loss. 

Thus  by  a  little  common-sense  and  pluck  was 
accomplished  by  one  Michigan  and  two  Massachu- 
setts regiments,  what  a  commander,  who  threw 
into  Fredericksburg  seventy  tons  of  iron,  had  failed 
to  accomplish. 

The  bridge  was  finished  by  two  o'clock,  and  the 
crossing  of  men  and  munitions  began.  All  hopes 
of  a  surprise,  however,  were  at  an  end. 

Three  miles  down  the  river,  meanwhile,  Frank- 
lin's Grand  Division,  numbering  nearly  one-half  of 
our  army,  had  crossed  on  two  bridges  constructed 
by  the  regular  engineers,  with  but  little  loss,  al- 
though its  young  and  gallant  engineer  ofScer, 
Captain  Richard  Cross,  was  mortally  wounded 
while  directing  his  men. 

The  next  day  was  entirely  consumed  in  crossing 
and  in  reconnoitring  the  enemy,  and  in  driving 
out  the  Confederates  who  had  barricaded  the  up- 
per streets  of  the  city  with  boxes  and  barrels  filled 
with  soil. 

Such  were  the  opening  scenes  in  a  battle  on 
which  the  sun  on  the  morrow  went  down  in  blood. 


210  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THE  BATTLE   OPENS. 

Our  brigade  crossed  to  the  city,  and  about  sun- 
down went  into  position  on  one  of  the  upper 
streets,  near  where  the  Confederates  had  erected 
the  barricades  before  mentioned. 

They  opened  on  us  a  sharp  fire  of  musketry; 
but  fortunately  wounded  only  one  member  of  our 
company,  my  old  friend  Add,  who  was  slightly 
hurt  by  a  bullet. 

Our  second  lieutenant  had  reported  sick  on  the 
morning  of  the  battle,  and  had,  I  heard,  no  appe- 
tite for  fighting. 

"Hadn't  ye  better,"  asked  the  irrepressible  Add, 
while  binding  up  his  wound,  "send  a  flag  o'  truce 
over  to  them  fellers,  and  explain  that  there  ain't 
no  need  of  all  this  fuss  and  parade  they  are  makin' 
on  our  account  ?  Tell  'em  we  only  dropped  over 
sort  of  informally,  and  ain't  one  of  them  regiments 
of  brigadiers,  we  ain't,  and  are  only  entitled  to 
one  salute,  anyway." 

We  took  our  company  into  the  houses  to  make 
reply  to  the  Confederate  sharpshooting.  The  men 
had  opened  a  tremendous  fire  of  musketry,  when 


THE  BATTLE   OPENS.  211 

Captain  Mason  said  to  them,  "  Take  aim !  and  fire 
slow,  men ! " 

"Tliat's  it!  "  drawled  Major  Grim  approvingly. 
"  In  battle  our  men  fire  too  fast,  and  take  too  little 
aim.  Then  they  all  get  out  of  ammunition,  and 
want  to  fall  back.  The  rebs  lay  low,  and  return 
fire  slowly,  and  our  boys  get  an  idea  that  there 
must  be  a  lot  of  rebs,  because  there  is  always  some 
of  them  alive  to  return  fire  after  such  a  racket. 
Some  of  the  new  men  shut  their  eyes  Avhen  they 
fire ;  they  are  more  likely  to  make  a  hole  in  the 
sky  than  in  a  reb." 

After  dark  we  found  the  Confederates  had  with- 
drawn from  their  barricade.  The  regiment  was 
ordered  from  the  houses,  and  stacked  arms  in  the 
gutter,  spreading  their  blankets  on  the  sidewalk 
for  the  night. 

The  following  day  (the  12th  of  December)  was 
consumed  by  our  army  in  crossing  the  different 
corps  of  Sumner's  command,  and  in  reconnoitring 
the  positions  of  the  enemy.  The  streets  of  the 
ancient  town  were  crowded  with  artillery  and  in- 
fantry, but  an  ominous  silence  reigned  on  the 
heights  above  vis. 

"The  rebs,"  said  some  one,  "are  holding  on  to 
their  ammunition;  guess  they're  short!" 

"That  ain't  it,"  said  Jack  Hale  gravely.  "I 
rather  guess  they  don't  want  to  discourage  us  from 
making  an  attack  on  them." 

"  They  know,"  said  a  veteran,  "  that  bombard- 


212  JACK  ALDEN. 

merits  mean  more  noise  than  hurts,  and  that  we'll 
soon  get  where  they  can  hurt  us  some!" 

We  lay  down  on  the  sidewalk ;  and  although 
I  was  kept  awake  for  some  time  by  the  cold,  and 
by  the  coughing  of  some  men  from  a  new  regi- 
ment near  us,  I  soon  fell  asleep.  Before  long  I 
was  awakened  by  a  tremendous  racket  that  was 
going  on  in  a  house  opposite. 

In  spite  of  orders  to  the  contrary,  some  of  our 
men  had  occupied  the  dwellings  around  us,  mak- 
ing free  with  everything  they  found  there. 

"Let's  go  over  and  see  what's  going  on,"  said 
Captain  Mason :  "  they  may  set  the  house  on 
fire." 

Through  the  open  door  we  entered  into  a  broad 
hall,  and  then  into  a  large  room  that  opened  out 
of  it.  A  fire  was  roaring  in  the  big,  open  fire- 
place, lighting  up  a  grotesque  .scene  of  revelry. 
A  few  men  were  cooking  at  the  fire,  but  others 
were  singing  and  dancing,  while  at  a  grand  piano 
sat  Add,  playing  with  no  unskilful  touch,  and 
calling  the  changes  of  the  dance.  Seated  on  the 
piano  was  little  Mike,  drumming  an  accompani- 
ment to  the  music  with  his  heels,  while  Tobin  was 
sawing  away  on  a  fiddle  with  but  two  strings. 
Another  man  was  tooting  discordantly  on  an  old- 
fashioned  hunting-horn. 

Some  of  the  dancers  were  dressed  in  cast-off 
female  wearing-apparel,  such  as  hoop-skirts  and 
poke  bonnets,  which  had  been  found  in  the  house. 


THE  BATTLE   OPENS.  213 

The  centre  around  which  all  the  extravagant 
changes  revolved  was  Rolly-Pooly,  who,  with  glis- 
tening teeth,  rolling  eyes,  and  distinguished 
gravity,  was  dancing  in  an  extravagant  manner. 
Every  inch  of  him,  from  the  wool  on  his  head  to 
the  toes  of  his  ragged  boots,  was  keeping  time  to 
the  music. 

The  captain  smiled,  for  he  was  by  no  means 
a  solemn  person,  and  appreciated  the  grotesque 
scene  as  much  as  I  did. 

Some  one  touched  my  shoulder;  I  turned,  and 
found  it  was  General  Blusterson.  As  if  in  re- 
sponse to  an  unspoken  query  he  saw  on  my  face, 
he  said,  "  Let  them  alone  !  "  Then  with  his  half- 
humorous  smile  and  shake  of  his  head,  he  said, 
with  an  undercurrent  of  pathos  in  his  tones,  "  Let 
them  get  all  the  fun  out  of  it  possible.  They'll 
have  some  tough  work  to  do  to-morrow,  and  they'll 
fight  none  the  worse  for  this." 

To  this  the  young  captain  replied,  as  if  speaking 
to  himself,  " '  Eat,  drink,  and  be  merry,  for  to-mor- 
row we  die.'  " 

"  Well,  yes  !  "  said  the  general  shortly.  "  That's 
a  motto  good  enough  for  a  soldier,  captain,  and  it's 
pretty  near  the  keynote  of  life,  anyway." 

"Yes,"  said  Mason  thoughtfully;  "and  it's  all 
the  more  reason.  General,  that  while  enjoying 
God's  good  things  we  should  be  reverent,  even 
when  most  joyful,  so  that  at  any  time  we  may  be 
ready  for  our  marching  orders !  " 


214  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  We  don't  do  as  we  wish  in  life,"  said  the  gen- 
eral still  more  sharply  ;  "  we  do  as  we  can  !  We 
are  crowded  into  life,  and  kicked  out  of  it  again, 
without  saying,  '  By  your  leave,  sir.'  I  believe  in 
getting  the  best  of  it  in  the  fight,  and  in  keep- 
ing out  of  the  mud,  and  in  fighting  with  all  my 
powers  to  keep  out  of  a  hole  !  " 

I  could  see  that  the  general  was  not  only 
answering  Captain  Mason,  but  was  excusing  his 
life  to  his  inner  consciousness  ;  and  I  thought  as  I 
rolled  myself  up  in  my  blanket  on  tlie  sidewalk 
again,  "  There  are  two  men,  both  brave,  but  actu- 
ated by  different  motives. 

"  One  says,  '  Let  us  enjoy  life,  and  fight  when  we 
must  to  preserve  ourselves,'  and  he  relies  on  him- 
self alone.  The  other  says,  '  Let  us  do  our  whole 
duty,  conscientiously  and  reverently.  Death  is 
near,  but  God  is  pitiful ;  let  us  trust  him.'  "  The 
mists  were  gathering,  and  a  damp,  chill  fog  en- 
veloped the  city  as  I  fell  asleep. 

I  still  heard,  as  if  in  my  dreams,  the  sounds  of 
laughter  and  music,  as  though  there  was  no  such 
thing  as  impending  battle. 

The  morning  sun  dispelled  the  cloud  of  fog  that 
enshrouded  the  city,  and  revealed  dark  lines  of 
men,  marching  to  their  positions  in  readiness  for 
battle. 

While  these  hosts  are  marshalling,  let  us  take 
a  general  glance  over  the  field,  in  order  that  we 
may  more   clearly  understand  the  significance  of 


THE  BATTLE   OPENS.  215 

the  incidents  that  came  under  my  own  observa- 
tion, and  which  I  shall  try  to  depict  here. 

On  the  south  or  Fredericksburg  side  of  the  Rap- 
pahannock, running  parallel  with  the  river,  there 
is  a  well-defined  crest  of  hills.  The  battle-field 
may  be  generally  described  as  a  broken  plain, 
stretching  back  from  the  southern  banks  of  the 
stream.  This  plain  is  six  hundred  yards  wide  at 
the  town,  in  front  of  Marj^e's  Heights,  and  two 
miles  wide  at  Franklin's  position,  otherwise  known 
as  Hamilton's  Crossing.  Marye's  Heights  and 
Hamilton's  Crossing  were  the  positions  attacked 
by  our  army,  and  where  the  fighting  took  place. 

Franklin's  Left  Grand  Division,  consisting  oi 
about  fifty  thousand  men,  had,  as  we  have  said 
elsewhere,  crossed  the  stream  with  little  opposition. 

General  Franklin  had  received  instructions,  by 
an  order  from  Burnside,  to  send  one  division  to 
seize  the  Heights  in  his  front  near  Hamilton 
Crossing  (where  his  army  was  confronted  by  that 
tough  and  resolute  fighter,  Stonewall  Jackson) ;  to 
keep  it  well  supported  by  at  least  a  division,  with 
its  line  of  retreat  well  open  ;  and  to  hold  the  rest 
of  his  command  in  position  for  a  rapid  movement 
down  the  old  Richmond  Road.  The  Heights, 
covered  with  leafless  oaks  and  dark  pines,  were 
occupied  by  the  Confederates.  In  front  of  them 
was  the  railroad,  and  beyond  that  the  woods. 

Between  nine  and  ten  in  the  morning  the  fog 
cleared  away,  and  revealed  to  the   Confederates 


216  JACK  ALDEN. 

Franklin's  Grand  Division,  formed  on  the  plain 
against  a  background  of  light  snow ;  and  at  ten 
o'clock  the  flashing  arms  of  Meade's  division  ad- 
vancing to  an  attack. 

As  they  advanced,  the  Confederates  opened  on 
them  with  artillery,  which  tore  gaps  in  their  ranks 
like  the  ploughshares  of  death.  The  lines  closed 
up,  and  advanced  like  a  storm-cloud  rifted  by  the 
wind.  The  first  of  our  brigade  penetrated  the 
woods,  swept  aside  from  right  to  left  like  a  cur- 
tain the  Confederates  in  their  front ;  captured 
many  prisoners  and  battle-flags,  and  wedged  itself 
between  two  Confederate  brigades  of  A.  P.  Hill's 
division. 

It  was  a  gallant  attack ;  but  unsupported  by  a 
fresh  attacking  force,  it  was  shattered  by  its  own 
impetus,  and  went  to  pieces  under  a  fire  from  the 
enemy's  front  and  both  flanks,  and  fell  back,  pur- 
sued by  the  yelling  Confederates. 

Its  five  thousand  men  had  attempted  the  work 
of  forty  thousand,  and  failed.  This  attack  had 
been  well  supported  by  Reynolds's  corps,  which, 
all  told,  lost  four  thousand  men ;  while  Meade  lost 
forty  per  cent  of  his  whole  command.  Briefly 
told,  this  was  the  battle  on  our  left. 


THE  ATTACK  ON  MARYE'S  HEIGHTS.     217 


CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE    ATTACK    ON    MARYE's    HEIGHTS. 

While  the  scenes  narrated  in  the  foregoing 
chapter  were  passing,  Sumner's  Right  Grand  Di- 
vision was  ordered  to  attack  the  formidable  heights 
back  of  Fredericksburg.  French's  division  was  at 
noon  ordered  forward  from  the  town,  followed  and 
supported  by  Hancock's  division,  and  that  to  be 
followed  by  Howard's. 

I  was  in  the  upper  part  of  one  of  the  houses, 
looking  out  at  French's  division,  which  was  ad- 
vancing by  the  plank  and  telegraph  roads.  It 
crossed  the  canal,  and  deployed  in  column  of 
attack  with  brigade  front,  under  cover  of  a  rise 
in  the  ground. 

From  its  first  move  on  the  roads  mentioned,  the 
Confederate  artillery  had  opened  from  the  semi- 
circle of  heights  a  terrible  fire,  tearing  the  ranks, 
which  closed  up  again  without  perceptible  influ- 
ence on  its  advance. 

Suddenly,  at  double-quick,  in  dark  masses,  it 
burst  upon  the  plain  with  the  impetuosity  of  a 
thunderbolt ! 

"  That's    grand !       Magnificent !       It    makes    a 


218  JACK  ALDEN. 

man's  heart  come  right  up  in  his  throat !  "  ex- 
claimed Major  Grim,  whom  I  found  standing  by 
my  side. 

No  sooner  had  the  division  left  the  cover  of  the 
embankment  where  it  formed,  than  a  converging 
storm  of  grape,  canister,  shot,  and  shell  burst 
upon  its  front,  tearing  through  its  ranks.  This 
did  not  check  its  hurricane-like  advance.  But  the 
worst  had  not  come.  When  it  reached  within  a 
few  hundred  yards  of  the  embankment  wall  at  the 
foot  of  Marye's  Heights,  a  blaze  of  red  musket-fire 
sprang  from  the  Confederates  concealed  in  the 
sunken  road,  followed  by  volley  after  volley,  and 
sheet  after  sheet  of  flame.  The  ground  was 
covered  with  dead  and  wounded,  and  the  attack- 
ing column  was  enveloped  in  the  white  sulphur- 
smoke. 

"  They  break  !  Terrible !  "  cried  Grim.  "  I  never 
saw  an3fthing  like  that !  " 

''Major,"  said  an  orderly  who  had  come  up- 
stairs, "  the  general's  compliments,  and  says  fall 
in  your  regiment  at  once  !  " 

"I  kinder  think,"  said  Grim  with  his  dogged 
smile,  "  that  it's  our  turn  next.  Come,  Alden ;  I 
feel  gloomy  enough  this  morning.  If  I  was  a 
fool  I  should  say  1  had  a  presentiment." 

The  company  was  already  formed  on  the  side- 
walk ;  and  as  the  general  rode  down  our  ranks, 
with  an  attempt  at  a  buttonhole  bouquet  in  the 
breast  of  his  uniform,  and  with  his  boots  polished 


THE  A  TTA  CK  ON  MA  R  YE'S  HEIGHTS.     219 

and    every   button    glistening,    I    heard    Add    re- 
mark, — 

"  The  general  looks  as  happy  as  a  clam  at  high 
water. " 

"  Then,"  I  said,  "  we  are  going  in  soon.  He 
wouldn't  look  so  unusually  happy  if  there  wasn't 
something  requiring  nerve,  —  a  crisis  at  hand." 

So  it  proved.  Blusterson  reined  in  his  horse, 
and  said  in  distinct  tones,  but  without  raisino-  his 
voice,  "We  are  going  for  them  chaps  up  there, 
men,  with  sharp  sticks.  We  will  show  them  all 
how  to  do  it!  I'm  going  with  you,  and  will  do 
all  I  can  for  you." 

The  order  came.  The  division  moved  forward, 
the  click  of  canteens  against  muskets  our  only 
music. 

The  men  were  silent,  sullen,  and  dogged.  There 
was  no  shrinking  from  the  work,  although  they 
had  no  confidence  in  the  attack.  There  was  not 
a  man  in  the  ranks  that  day  that  did  not  know 
the  hopelessness  of  the  task,  yet  they  did  all  that 
men  could  do. 

As  our  brigade  marched  up  the  road,  shell  and 
shot,  grape  and  canister,  swept  its  lines,  and  left 
behind  it,  as  its  ranks  steadily  closed  up,  the  dead 
and  dying;  but  no  man  flinclied.  There  was  no 
cheering  as  we  formed  under  tiie  protection  of  an 
embankment,  and  then,  at  double-quick,  with  the 
impetuosity  of  a  storm,  burst  upon  the  plain,  and 
dashed  like  a  dark  wave  on  Marye's  fatal  Heights  ! 


220  JACK  ALDEN. 

The  general  was  on  foot,  with  drawn  sword,  in 
the  rear  of  his  brigade,  shouting,  encouraging,  and 
steadying  the  men. 

There  was  an  uproar  of  explosions  beneath  our 
feet ;  our  ranks  were  torn  and  bleeding ;  and,  as 
the  men  fell  wounded  or  dead,  its  front  shrunk 
at  every  step. 

Amidst  the  inferno  of  sounds,  a  nervous  im- 
patience which  I  had  at  first  felt  gave  place  to  a 
cool  indifference. 

Little  things  caught  my  attention  in  the  line. 
I  noticed  that  Sergeant  Standish's  hat  was  wrong 
side  before,  and  felt  an  impulse  to  straighten  it. 
I  saw  men  drop  their  muskets  and,  with  appealing 
looks,  go  down.  I  heard  men  shriek  and  fall,  and 
yet  did  not  realize  that  it  meant  peril  to  myself. 

I  noticed  a  bloody  spot  on  Sergeant  Key's  hand 
where  a  bullet  had  struck  it. 

Meanwhile,  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  read 
these  lines,  the  brigade  had  reached  to  within 
musket-shot  of  the  Heights.  And  then  volley 
after  volley  burst  from  the  sunken  road,  and  a 
sheet  of  flame  seemed  to  envelop  the  head  of  the 
column.  We  were  within  a  hundred  yards  of 
the  rebel  position,  and  our  column  had  melted 
away  to  a  few  straggling  but  desperate  men. 

The  dead  and  dying  were  all  around  us  ;  and  a 
noise  of  humming  bullets,  like  the  din  of  a  cotton- 
mill,  passed  over  us,  seemingly  in  sheets,  and  then 
our  Men  scattered  like  chaff  before  the  wind. 


THE  ATTACK  ON  MA  RYE'S  HEIGHTS.     221 

The  strength  of  the  enemy's  position  surpassed 
liuman  bravery.  In  fifteen  immortal  moments 
our  conflict  was  decided. 

Some  fled,  and  took  refuge  in  the  cluster  of 
houses  standing  at  the  fork  of  the  street  below; 
while  a  good  part  of  our  line,  with  myself,  had 
found  partial  shelter  from  the  destructive  musket- 
fire  by  lying  down  behind  a  rise  in  the  ground  a 
few  rods  in  advance  of  an  isolated  square  brick 
house,  not  far  from  Marye's  Heights. 

Here  we  were  sheltered  from  the  musketiy,  but 
not  from  the  artillery  of  the  foe. 

I  now  seemed  to  realize  for  the  first  time  how 
terrible  the  encounter  had  been.  The  wounded 
and  dead  thickly  covered  the  ground  just  in  front 
of  us. 

"  See  there  !  "  And  Add,  who  had  crept  up  to 
my  side,  pointed  before  him. 

One  wounded  man,  prostrate  on  his  face,  was 
endeavoring  to  drag  himself  toward  us  by  clutch- 
ing the  tufts  of  grass;  another,  lying  on  his  back, 
was  trying  to  push  himself  along  by  thrusting  his 
heels  into  the  yielding  ground.  Another  pain- 
fully rolled  over  towards  us  once  or  twice,  and  was 
stopped  by  a  sharpshooter's  bullet.  All  over  the 
field  on  our  front  was  spread  a  writhing  mass  of 
our  brave  wounded  men,  grovelling  in  the  mud, 
their  blue  overcoats  making  the  waxen  pallor  of 
their  faces  still  more  ghastly.  An  army  of  human 
wrecks  was  around  us.  ♦ 


222  JACK  ALDEN. 

It  was  not  long  before  we  heard  the  advance  of 
another  column,  and  we  thought,  as  they  charged, 
how  hopeless  the  attempt  was. 

Six  times  that  day  the  Union  troops  were  hurled 
upon  the  Heights,  and  as  many  times  were  broken 
like  waves  on  a  rocky  coast,  and  receded.  The 
death-girdled  Heights  were  impregnable  to  human 
assault.  The  last  charge  was  made  about  dark. 
It  was  Humphrey's  division,  who  came  on  cheer- 
ing, passed  over  us,  trampling  on  the  wounded  in 
our  ranks;  and  then  went  to  pieces  before  the 
deadly  fire  of  the  Confederates,  like  those  who  had 
preceded  them. 

A  few  torn  and  blackened  remnants  of  the  di- 
vision that  had  charged  the  Heights  meanwhile, 
prostrate  on  their  bellies,  still  held  the  little  ridge 
of  earth  before  Marye's  Heights.  They  could  not 
advance,  and  would  not  retreat. 

At  once  after  taking  my  position  behind  the 
ridge,  Add  told  me  that  Captain  Mason  and  Jack 
Hale  were  both  wounded.  I  crept  to  the  captain, 
and  found  him  with  a  bullet  wound  in  the  lungs. 
All  that  had  protected  him  from  immediate  death 
had  been  a  metallic  case  which  contained  his  moth- 
er's picture,  and  from  which  the  bullet  glanced 
upward,  but  not  without  inflicting  a  terrible 
wound. 

As  I  was  crawling  humbly  along  to  reach 
Mason,  I  heard  the  voice  of  the  general  exclaim- 
ing,   "  Get   down    there,   men  !      Lie    down !      If 


"Get  down  there,  men!     Lie  down! 
—  Page  222. 


THE  A  TTACK  ON  MAR  YE  '5  HEIGHTS.    223 

there's  enough  of  you  who  want  to  get  shot  to 
make  it  worth  while,  I'll  lead  you  up  there,  and 
pull  the  Johnnies  out  of  their  hole !  " 

Looking  up,  I  saw  the  general  seated  on  the 
ground,  looking  very  pale,  but  intent  on  keeping 
the  men  from  needlessly  exposing  themselves. 

"What's  the  matter,  General?"  I  asked;  "you 
look  pale." 

"  That  you,  Alden  ?  Glad  to  see  you  are  all 
right !  The  rascals  have  spoiled  one  of  my  new 
boots ;  bullet  through  my  leg;  only  just  a  scratch, 
though.  The  men  down  there  are  going  to 
charge,  I  see  !     We'll  get  'em  yet !  " 

I  persuaded  the  general  to  lie  on  his  stomach 
like  the  rest  of  us ;  but  the  position  seemed  to  dis- 
hearten him  more  than  his  wound. 

It  illustrates  how  sharp  the  firing  was  at  this 
time,  that  in  taking  off  my  canteen  to  give  Mason 
a  drink,  I  had  lifted  myself  a  little  from  the 
ground,  when  a  bullet  cut  the  canteen  strap,  while 
another  hit  the  hilt  of  my  sword,  and,  glancing, 
wounded  a  man  near  me. 

It  was  a  wonder  that  General  Blusterson  had 
not  been  killed  in  keeping  an  upright  position 
so  long.  Later,  I  was  grieved  to  learn  that  our 
brave  major   was   among  the  missing. 

Almost  every  moment  some  one  was  hurt  by 
the  enemy's  shell  or  canister.  But  in  contrast 
with  the  greater  peril  we  had  encountered,  the 
position  seemed  like  one  of  tolerable  safety. 


224  JACK  ALDEN. 

The  interval  between  the  charge  and  sunset 
seemed  days  instead  of  hours.  So  much  does  a 
man  measure  his  life  by  sensations,  rather  than 
by  moments  ! 

At  last  the  great  disk  of  the  sun,  reddened  as  if 
by  reflection  from  that  terrible  field,  sank  slowly 
down,  and  merciful  darkness  came  to  succor  the 
wounded  and  to  protect  the  living. 

Was  our  major  among  the  wounded  men  on  that 
dreadful  field? 

I  silently  prayed  that  he  might  rather  be  among 
the  dead. 

Darkness  soon  put  a  stop  to  hostile  sounds,  save 
shell  firing,  which  occasionally  came  from  the 
Heights,  trailing  bright  lines  across  the  black  sky. 
From  the  cluster  of  dead  and  wounded  men,  there 
came  crawling  painfull}^,  or  hobbling  on  muskets, 
reversed  for  crutches,  the  wounded  to  our  lines. 
Among  these  was  Sergeant  Crandall.  He  could 
give  no  intelligence  of  our  brave  major. 

Crandall  and  little  Mike  were  sent  to  the  town 
with  General  Blusterson  and  Captain  Mason. 

I  was  now  the  ranking  officer  of  tlie  company, 
which  was,  however,  now  no  great  command. 
Many  of  our  men  were  wounded  or  dead ;  others 
had  taken  refuge  in  a  cluster  of  houses  near  the 
fork  of  the  road ;  while  still  others  had  retreated 
to  a  ravine  some  two  hundred  yards  in  our  rear. 

There  were  members  of  different  regiments 
mixed  with  us,  —  the  most  daring  of  those  living 


THE  ATTACK  ON  MAR  YE' S  HEIGHTS.    225 

of  the  six  columns  that  had  charged  those  fatal 
heights  that  day.  They  could  not  advance,  and 
were  too  brave  to  retreat.  Hungry,  covered  with 
mud,  benumbed  with  cold,  we  lay  prostrate  on  our 
faces  before  the  enemy.  The  night  grew  intensely 
cold.  Our  garments  froze  to  the  ground.  As  fast 
as  the  men  died,  their  bodies  were  piled  up  as  a 
barricade  for  the  living.  Dead  battery -horses  were 
utilized  in  the  same  way. 

Whenever  our  men  endeavored  to  bring  in  the 
wounded  from  the  front  they  were  fired  upon  by 
the  enemy.  We,  in  turn,  fired  upon  them  when- 
ever we   saw  them  trying  to  plunder  the  dead. 

At  last  our  line  was  relieved  by  orders  from 
General  Sumner,  and  was  withdrawn  to  the  town. 
I  looked  at  my  watch,  and  found  it  was  only  half- 
past  eleven  p.  m.  ;  yet  it  seemed  an  age  since  we 
had  charged  Marye's   Heights. 


226  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

THE   RETREAT. 

It  was  very  cold ;  but  the  troops  were  not  al- 
lowed to  kindle  bivouac  fires  in  Fredericksburg 
that  night,  lest  the  enemy  should  open  fire  upon 
its  crowded  streets.  By  contrast  with  the  uncom- 
fortable position  whicli  we  had  left,  our  beds  on 
the  sidewalk  seemed  luxurious. 

That  night  I  slept  a  dreamless  sleep,  but  awoke 
in  the  morning  lame  and  hungry.  After  eating 
ravenously  the  few  crumbs  left  in  my  haver- 
sack, I  started  down  the  street  to  find  something 
more  to  devour.  While  thus  engaged  I  unex- 
pectedly came  upon  Rolly-Pooly,  sitting  in  a 
doorway  fast  asleep.  By  vigorous  shaking  I  suc- 
ceeded in  arousing  him,  and  in  making  him  com- 
prehend that  I  was  in  pursuit  of  something  to  eat. 
He  came  very  near  appearing  to  be  interested  and 
glad ;  and  I  was  repaid  for  awakening  him  when 
he  brought  out  from  under  the  doorstep  a  basket 
containing  cold  chicken  and  other  goodies,  to- 
gether with  a  few  china  plates,  some  uncut  crash 
towelling,  and  a  bar  of  soap.  The  reader  may  im- 
agine that  I  did  not  wait  for  ceremony,  or  to  make 


THE  RETREAT.  227 

my  toilet  then,  but  began  an  attack  on  the  good 
things  at  once.  Sergeant  Addison  Key,  who  came 
along  just  as  I  was  beginning,  brought  me  some 
hot  coffee,  and  afterwards  volunteered  to  assist,  as 
he  termed  it,  in  driving  in  the  pickets  on  the 
grub  line.  And  soon  nothing  remained  of  Roily 's 
provender  but  bare  bones  and  crumbs.  After- 
wards, when  I  was  inclined  to  get  out  of  patience 
with  Roily,  the  remembrance  of  that  excellent 
meal  inclined  me  to  be  more  lenient  of  his  tres- 
passes than  charity  really  demanded. 

Another  surprise  was  in  store  for  me  when 
Roily,  indifferently  making  a  motion  with  his 
woolly  head  towards  a  house,  said,  "  De  Gigabreer 
in  dar,  sar." 

"Who?"     I  asked. 

He  vouchsafed  no  explanation,  but  it  flashed 
upon  me  that  he  meant  General  Blusterson. 

On  this  supposition  I  entered  the  house,  where 
I  found  a  large  number  of  our  wounded.  It  was 
the  same  dwelling  where  Add  and  others  held  the 
carousal  on  the  night  before  the  attack. 

How  changed  the  conditions  were  may  be  in- 
ferred when  I  say  that  I  found  surgeons  at  work 
in  the  hall,  and  the  piano  removed  from  its  legs, 
and  set  edgewise  as  an  amputating  table. 

The  surgeons  were  busy  at  their  painful  but 
necessary  work.  As  soon  as  one  subject  had  been 
operated  upon  another  was  brought  in ;  and  they 
were  following  one  another  in  such  quick  succes- 


228  JACK  ALDEN. 

sion  that  there  was  barely  time  between  cases  to 
cleanse  with  a  sponge  the  protecting  poncbo 
blanket. 

Shattered  limbs  were  being  ■  amputated  with 
wonderful  dexterity.  A  sponge  saturated  with 
chloroform  was  thrust  to  the  nose  of  the  patient ; 
the  keen  knife  flashed ;  there  was  a  faint  rasping 
of  the  saw ;  the  blood  spurted  in  sharp  jets,  and 
was  checked  at  once ;  the  insensible  patient  was 
removed  by  one  set  of  attendants,  while  another 
disposed  of  the  bleeding  member  sacrificed  to  his 
country.  The  limbs  were  carried  out  of  the  back 
door,  where  bloody  water  was  also  poured,  the 
ghastly  refuse  crimsoning  the  small  bank  of  snow 
at  the  corner  of  the  fence.  I  entered  the  room, 
and  was  greeted  by  Crandall,  who  lay  near  the 
doorway.  A  fire  was  blazing  on  the  hearth ;  and 
lying  near  it  were  General  Blusterson  and  Captain 
Mason,  while  fifteen  or  twenty  other  wounded 
men  were  scattered  around  the  room. 

The  surgeons  had  been  kept  so  busy,  that  the 
attendant  at  the  time  I  entered  was  but  just 
attempting  to  remove  the  general's  boots,  prepar- 
atory to  an  examination  of  his  wound. 

The  general  had  insisted  upon  having  the  boot 
pulled  off,  instead  of  having  it  cut  away.  But 
when  an  attempt  was  made  to  remove  it,  although 
the  smile  did  not  desert  his  face,  he  grew  pale, 
and  ejaculated,  "  Easy  there !  easy  there."  The 
new    boot    could    not    be   saved.      The    general 


THE  RETREAT.  229 

gasped,  ceased  to  smile,  and  exclaimed,  "  Cut  it 
ofe!     Cut  it  away!" 

"  The  old  fellow,"  said  Sergeant  Crandall  ad- 
miringly, "  is  kind  of  gritty !  He  made  that 
surgeon  attend  to  me  and  Captain  Mason  first." 

Meanwhile  the  boot  was  cut  away. 

"  There,"  said  the  general  blandly,  but  with  an 
expression  of  pain  mingled  with  his  brave  smile. 
"  Thank  you  ;  that  feels  better  !  " 

He  now  saw  me,  and  called  out,  "  Come  over 
here,  Alden !  How  are  they  getting  on  up  there 
on  the  hill?" 

I  greeted  both  the  general  and  the  captain,  and 
informed  them  of  the  situation. 

A  hospital  steward  now  came  in  to  examine  the 
general's  wound.  The  latter  lighted  a  cigar,  and 
asked  me  to  pass  his  case  to  others  in  the  room. 
The  hospital  steward  began  probing  the  wound  in 
what  I  thought  rather  a  nervous  manner.  Once 
the  general  removed  his  cigar,  and,  taking  the 
probe,  said  gently  to  the  steward,  "  By  your  leave, 
sir !  I'm  something  of  a  mechanic  myself ;  the 
bullet  track  is  downward,  like  that  you  see ;  the 
shot  came  from  up  hill." 

There  was  no  wincing  ;  tlie  general,  as  he  looked 
on,  smoked  and  smiled,  and,  seeing  that  bandages 
were  scarce,  said,  "  There's  a  white  shirt  for 
bandages ;  I've  got  on  a  Avoollen  one  now,"  and 
then,  with  the  old  humorous  expression  on  his  lips, 
added,  "  It's  clean ;  I  had  it  on  only  a  little  while 


230  JACK  ALDEN. 

Friday.  I  wasn't  going  to  be  found  dead  with 
dirty  linen  on,  gentlemen  !  " 

The  attendant  tore  the  white  linen  into  strips. 
The  steward  continued  probing,  and  finally  drew 
out  a  jagged  and  flattened  bullet,  when  blood 
began  spurting  out  in  short,  sharp  jets. 

Quickly  Blusterson  tied  the  linen  bandage  above 
the  wound ;  the  surgeon  seized  a  broken  chair 
round  and  tightened  it.  The  patient  dropped  his 
cigar,  and  sank  back  deadly  pale  ;  for  the  tour- 
niquet had  not  been  applied  so  quickly  but  that 
he  had  lost  much  blood.  The  young  steward  said 
to  the  attendant  sharply,  "  Call  the  surgeon  !  " 

A  main  artery  had  been  severed,  partially  by  the 
bullet,  partially  by  the  probe. 

"  The  leg,"  said  the  surgeon,  after  a  quick  ex- 
amination, "  will  have  to  come  off." 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  the  general ;  "  not  as  bad  as 
that.     Can't  you  save  it  ?  " 

The  surgeon  shook  his  head. 

"  Well,"  said  Blusterson,  "  what's  a  leg  ?  I'd  'a' 
given  both  of  them  to  have  driven  those  rebs  out 
of  their  hole  with  my  brigade !  Go  ahead  if  you 
must !  " 

The  general  was  carried  to  the  table ;  the  chlo- 
roform sponge  was  held  to  his  nostrils,  and  the 
surgeon,  with  wonderful  skill,  cut  through  the 
muscles  of  the  lower  joint  above  the  wound,  laid 
bare  the  bone,  introduced  an  instrument  to  hold 
back  the  muscles,  drew  the  saw  across  the  bone 


THE  RETREAT.  231 

twice,  and  it  was  sundered,  the  foot  and  lower 
leg  remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  attendant.  The 
ligature  of  the  arteries  was  quickly  accomplislied, 
the  flaps  of  skin  drawn  down,  and  stitches  put  in 
to  hold  it  in  place,  and  the  general  was  removed 
to  his  bed  near  Captain  Mason,  before  he  became 
conscious.  He  came  out  of  his  chloroformed 
condition  with  but  little  of  the  customary  flurry, 
and,  looking  down  to  his  leg,  ejaculated,  "  They've 
done  it,  have  they?  "  and  sank  back,  fumbling  for 
his  cigar-case. 

The  cutting  and  sawing  meanwhile  went  on 
among  the  poor  men  brought  to  the  amputating 
table.  If  a  man  died  he  was  immediately  carried 
out  to  make  room  for  other  patients. 

It  was  horrible ;  but  such  is  war,  and  such  are 
the  scenes  that  should  be  gazed  upon  by  those 
who  contemplate   invoking  the   demon  of   battle. 

Captain  Mason  shook  his  head  calmly,  but 
gravely,  as  I  turned  to  him  a  few  moments  after 
the  scene  described,  to  ask  if  there  was  anything  I 
could  do  for  his  comfort.  His  wound  was  through 
the  collar-bone  and  the  upper  part  of  the  left  lung, 
from  which  the  surgeon  had  been  unable  to  ex- 
tract the  bullet. 

"  How,"  he  inquired,  "  does  it  look  up  back  of 
the  town  now  ?  " 

"  It  looks  bad,"  I  said,  as  I  almost  involuntarily 
took  his  hand  ;  "  and  it  ain't  over  yet.  I  wish  the 
army  was  well  out  of  it." 


232  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  Trust  in  God,"  he  replied  gravely.  "  It  is  all 
a  part  of  his  plan, —  part  of  the  price  that  must 
be  paid  for  the  country's  redemption,  Jack.  God 
is  over  all,  the  same  now  as  before  the  battle." 

Captain  Mason's  trust  in  God  never  faltered, 
and  to  him  a  belief  in  his  loving-kindness  seemed 
to  require  no  effort. 

The  general,  who  was  now  lighting  his  cigar, 
overhearing  my  despondent  remark,  said  faintly, 
but  in  his  old  confident  tones,  "  Don't  croak,  my 
boy;  I've  wasted  lots  of  good  stuff  in  my  day, 
trying  to  make  models  for  a  new  machine,  but  it 
always  came  out  right  after  enough  whittling. 
We  made  a  good  fight ;  there's  chance  for  failure 
in  anything." 

"  It's  my  opinion,"  growled  Crandall,  his  shaggy 
brows  meeting  in  a  scowl,  "  that  old  Burney  had 
better  get  this  army  out  of  town  kinder  quick, 
before  the  rebs  come  after  him." 

"  Tut !  Tut !  "  said  the  general  confidently ; 
"  they  don't  want  anything  of  us  on  even  terms, 
Sergeant ! " 

After  writing  several  letters  for  the  general,  I 
went  out  to  send  them  across  the  river  to  mail. 

The  town  was  one  great  hospital  and  morgue. 
Even  the  front  yards  and  kitchen  gardens  of  the 
houses  were  occupied  by  pieces  of  men,  who  on  the 
Saturday  previous  had  gone  into  the  battle  whole. 

It  was  a  gloomy  Sunday,  such  as  I  hope  never 
to  see  again.     There  was  no  movement  made  by 


THE  RETREAT.  233 

either  Federals  or  Confederates  during  the  day. 
It  seemed  to  me  that,  as  Father  Crandall  had 
intimated,  if  the  Confederates  shoukl  make  a 
descent  upon  the  town,  or  open  with  their  artil- 
lery upon  the  disheartened  men  that  crowded  the 
streets  of  Fredericksburg,  our  army  would  be 
doomed  to  yet  more  terrible  disaster. 

I  returned  to  the  house,  after  visiting  my  com- 
pany, which  was  in  charge  of  Sergeant  Key,  and 
found  my  comrades  in  much  the  same  situation 
that  I  had  left  them. 

As  I  looked  over  the  group,  I  could  not  help 
remarking  the  faces  of  my  friends ;  tlie  general's 
lionlike  face,  and  the  set  determination  in  Father 
Crandall 's  rugged  features,  expressed  the  same 
thing.  The  most  remarkable  face,  however,  was 
that  of  young  Captain  Elbridge  Mason.  Its  pallor 
alone  indicated  his  wounded  condition.  The  eyes 
were  calm,  the  brow  serene,  and  the  lijjs  had  an 
indefinable  grave  smile,  which,  as  Crandall  said, 
was  like  an  angel's. 

Add  came  in  to  report  to  me ;  for  I  had  sent 
him  to  make  out  a  list  of  our  dead,  wounded,  and 
missing.     It  was  a  long  catalogue  of  casualties. 

"  Well,"  said  one  of  our  wounded  men,  an  ex- 
printer,  "  they've  knocked  the  regiment  into  pi !  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Add,  holding  up  his  bandaged  digit, 
"  and  I've  had  a  finger  in  the  pie  myself." 

There  was  a  ripple  of  laughter,  even  among 
the  wounded,  at  this  sally. 


234  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  Mason,  after  Add  had  gone, 
"  it  is  the  Sabbath  Day ;  we've  passed  through 
scenes  of  great  peril  together.  Shall  I  read  to  you 
from  this  book,"  touching  his  Bible,  "  a  few  com- 
forting words  ?  " 

"Yes,"  said  Crandall;  "I  say  for  one,  if  thei*e  is 
any  comfort  anywhere,  give  it  to  us." 

While  the  general  politely  replied,  "  Certainly, 
my  boy ;  certainly !  " 

Mason  read  with  great  purity  of  enunciation 
from  the  words  of  his  Master,  and  then  read  a  few 
verses  from  the  Psalms,  closing  with,  "  Though  I 
walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death, 
I  will  fear  no  evil." 

Then,  with  clasped  hands,  still  lying  on  his 
poor  bed,  he  prayed  for  the  country,  for  the  army, 
and  for  his  wounded  comrades. 

I  do  not  know  that  his  prayer  was  eloquent; 
but  it  had  behind  it  something  that  seldom  fails  to 
move  men, — a  consistent  character.  It  was  the 
man  himself ;  his  simplicity,  bravery,  and  the  un- 
assuming goodness  of  his  life,  his  love  for  his  com- 
rades, as  deep  as  it  was  tender,  that  affected  us 
most. 

There  was  silence  for  a  time  after  the  prayer ; 
then  the  old  general  turned,  reached  out  his  hand 
to  his  boy  captain,  and  said,  "  Thank  you ;  I 
haven't  thought  much  of  such  things  of  late,  but 
your  trust  in  God,  Captain,  is  worth  more  than 
pluck  at  a  time  like  this." 


THE  RETREAT.  235 

With  a  serene  look  on  his  shining,  lofty  brow 
the  boy  captain  replied,  "  Yes,  my  General,  reli- 
gion don't  need  pluck;  it  makes  courage:  for 
'  Jesus  can  make  a  dying  bed  as  soft  as  downy 
pillows  are.'     Let  us  sing  together,  — 

"  '  Jesus,  lover  of  my  soul, 
Let  me  to  thy  bosom  fly, 
When  the  nearer  waters  roll, 
While  the  tempest  still  is  high.'  " 

For  a  moment  all  joined  in  singing  the  hymn  as 
fervently  as  if  they  were  soldiers  of  the  Cross,  in- 
stead of  rough  fighters  of  the  Army  of  the  Poto- 
mac. 

Monday  morning  dawned  upon  the  hosts  around 
Fredericksburg.  There  was  but  little  change  in 
the  situation,  except  the  removal  of  the  wounded 
across  the  river. 

It  was  a  sight  to  move  the  most  callous,  to  be- 
hold the  loading  of  the  ambulances.  Some  of  the 
wounded  had  a  greenish  pallor  on  their  faces,  or 
the  reddish  cast  that  denotes  congestion ;  many  of 
them  were  in  a  state  of  coma ;  some  uttered 
piercing  cries  of  anguish,  while  others  died  from 
the  shock  of  removal. 

The  regular  ambulances  of  the  medical  depart- 
ment were  inadequate  to  the  task,  and  various 
other  vehicles  from  the  trains  were  used,  and  went 
rolling  on  with  their  ghastly  loads. 

Late  Monday  evening  our  advance  lines  were 


236  JACK  ALDEN. 

pushed  up  close  against  the  enemy,  as  if  to  attack ; 
but  \\\  tlie  darkness  the  work  of  recrossing  the 
riyer  began. 

The  pontoon  bridges  were  covered  with  earth, 
that  no  sound  of  the  movement  should  give  warn- 
ing to  the  enemy. 

Swiftly,  sadly,  and  in  silence  the  troops  moved 
on  in  one  black  train,  until  at  two  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  Tuesda}^  the  last  picket-line  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  was  withdrawn ;  and  by 
three  o'clock  the  arni}^,  with  its  material,  was 
again  safe  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  Rappa- 
hannock. 

The  battle  had  been  fought  and  lost,  and  with 
it  was  lost  the  confidence  of  the  army  in  General 
Burnside. 

Its  harvest  of  death  and  wounds  depresses  the 
heart  even  in  the  remembrance.  Ten  thousand  of 
our  brave  men  Avere  killed  and  wounded  in  this 
worse  than  useless  attack. 

General  Burnside "s  manly  assumption  of  all 
blame  was  worthy  of  his  generous  character;  but 
it  did  not  atone  for  needless  loss  of  precious  hu- 
man life. 

Thus  ended  the  campaign  against  the  stone 
walls  of  Fredericksburg. 


DISCONTENT.  237 


CHAPTER   XXI. 

DISCONTENT. 

The  next  forenoon,  after  the  arni}^  had  recrossed 
the  river,  Corporal  Osgood  approached  me,  and, 
saluting,  said,  "Shouldn't  wonder.  Lieutenant,  if 
they'd  send  a  burial  squad  over  the  river  this  fore- 
noon to  bury  our  fellers." 

"What,"  I  asked,  "makes  you  think  so?" 

"  Well,  a  reb  officer  come  over  just  now,  with  a 
flag  of  truce ;  and  I  see'd  old  Burny  and  he  sittin' 
under  a  persimmon-tree  down  by  the  river,  talkin' 
and  eatiu'  somethin'  good.  Must  be  that's  what's 
the  matter.     Can't  be  anything  else." 

It  was  a  shrewd  guess  of  a  kind  not  unusual 
among  our  acute  soldiers  in  the  ranks,  Avho  seldom 
failed  to  get  wind  of  what  was  going  on  in  ad- 
vance of  their  officers. 

On  inquiry  I  learned  that  all  arrangements  had 
been  made  for  the  burial  of  our  dead ;  and  I  ob- 
tained permission  to  accompany  the  party  with 
Add,  in  order  to  identify,  if  possible,  those  of  our 
number  who  were  missing,  and  among  whom  we 
hoped  to  find  the  major. 

Arriving  on  the  ground,  we  found  the  burial 


238  JACK  ALDEN. 

squads  hard  at  work  with  picks,  digging  trenches 
in  the  frozen  soil.  Most  of  the  dead  had  been 
stripped  by  the  enemy.  A  woman  in  a  house  near 
Marye's  Heights  said,  "  The  night  you  Yanks  left 
here  the  ground  was  blue,  but  the  next  morning  it 
was  white." 

These  dead,  among  the  bravest  soldiers  of  the 
army,  were  thrown  into  trenches  without  even  a 
blanket  for  a  shroud.  The  bodies  were  bloated, 
blackened,  and  disfigured.  We  were,  however, 
able  to  identify  most  of  our  men,  though  among 
them  I  could  not  find  the  body  of  Major  Grim. 

The  Confederate  officers  and  men  whom  I  met 
here  were  grave  and  courteous,  as  became  men  on 
such  an  occasion. 

I  inquired  for  Captain  Milner,  and  was  told  that 
his  battery  was  farther  up  on  the  hill.  Upon  my 
expressing  a  desire  to  communicate  with  him,  an 
officer  kindly  sent  word  for  him ;  but  he  did  not 
make  his  appearance.  I  learned,  however,  that 
he  had  passed  through  the  battle  unhurt.  I  sent 
word  by  one  of  the  officers  who  was  acquainted 
with  him,  that  Major  Grim  was  among  the  missing, 
and  requested  him  to  ascertain  if  possible  whether 
he  was  a  prisoner  of  war,  and  to  communicate  to 
me  any  information  regarding  his  fate. 

"  I  think,"  said  an  officer,  "  your  friend  must  be 
among  the  wounded,  although  it  is  hard  to  recog- 
nize the  dead,  I  confess,  on  account  of  their  naked 
and  disfigured  condition." 


DISCONTENT.  239 

Some  of  our  men  were  heard  to  make  bitter 
remarks  regarding-  tlie  condition  of  the  dead, 
when  the  officer  said,  "  Yes ;  it  is  terrible.  I 
don't  justify  it;  but  our  ])oys  are  poorly  clad,  and 
they  cannot  resist  the  opportunity  to  get  warm 
clothing." 

Groups  of  the  Confederates,  rank  and  file,  were 
to  be  seen  chatting,  swapping  jackknives  and 
jokes,  and  trading  coffee  for  tobacco,  as  if  they 
were  neighbors  and  friends,  instead  of  enemies 
who  but  a  few  hours  before  had  been  engaged  in 
mortal  conflict. 

After  lingering  until  late  in  the  afternoon,  I 
again  crossed  the  river,  feeling  depressed  and  sor- 
rowful after  the  terrible  scenes  of  the  day,  and  was 
not  pleased  to  find  Lieutenant  Sinclair  in  my  quar- 
ters, carousing  and  drinking  with  Captain  King. 

At  the  time  of  which  I  write,  the  prevailing 
sentiment  among  officers  in  the  army  regarding 
drunkenness  was  very  low.  ''The  sale  of  intoxi- 
cants among  the  rank  and  file  was  expressly 
forbidden.  But  the  commissioned  officers  were 
permitted  to  draw  on  the  commissary  by  order. 
Thus  among  those  whose  morals  had  not  been 
moulded  by  healthy  family  influences,  or  who  had 
not  the  instinctive  feelings  of  gentlemen,  the  bru- 
tal habit  was  considered  less  a  degradation  than  a 
subject  for  mirth. 

When  the  next  day  I  learned  that  Lieutenant 
Sinclair  had  had  the  company  out  for  drill  while 


240  JACK  ALDEN. 

he  was  partially  under  the  influence  of  liquor,  I 
understood  the  half-smothered,  discontented  re- 
marks and  sullen  looks  of  our  men. 

A  morning  or  two  after  this,  when  Sergeant 
Add  Key,  who  at  this  time  was  the  acting  orderly 
sergeant,  came  to  my  quarters  with  the  morning 
report,  1  said  rather  stiffly,  ''  Sergeant,  you  must 
not  countenance  such  insubordinate  remarks  as 
I've  overheard  among  the  men  lately." 

"I'll  do  the  best  I  can.  Lieutenant,"  he  replied; 
"but  I  can't  make  men  over,  so  they'll  think 
white  is  black.  The  best  way  to  reform  the  men, 
is  to  reform  some  of  the  officers." 

I  did  not  reply  for  a  moment,  for  the  remark 
cut  to  the  marrow  of  the  subject.  The  conduct  of 
men  in  the  ranks  is  usually  what  officers  make  it, 
and  good  officers  make  good  men.  But  I  said, 
"  Frown  it  down,  and  punish  such  men  if  you  find 
a  good  excuse,  Sergeant." 

Add  made  no  direct  reply,  but  turned  the  sub- 
ject to  the  list  of  dead  and  missing  on  his  report ; 
but  before  he  left  my  quarters  he  said  in  his  droll, 
dry  manner,  "A  reb  over  there  on  'tother  side  told 
me  yesterday  that  whiskey  is  sixty  dollars  a  pint 
in  Richmond,  an'  I  tell  you  that  that's  where  the 
rebs  have  got  an  advantage." 

"  Why  do  you  think  so  ?  "  I  inquired. 

"Why,  don't  you  see  ?  "  said  Add  with  a  queer 
twist  to  his  face,  "  there's  five  hundred  chances 
more  for  one  of  our  men  in  a  responsible  place  to 


DISCONTENT.  241 

be  laid  off  by  whiskey  than  for  a  Confederate  offi- 
cer? Wh}^  a  week's  pay  of  one  of  them  fellers 
wouldn't  give  him  a  smell  of  a  pint  bottle  that 
had  had  the  critter  in  it  before  the  war !  " 

I  made  no  reply,  and  did  not  smile,  but  said,  as 
stiffly  as  I  could,  "  Sergeant,  take  your  morning's 
report  to  your  quarters  again." 

Just  as  Add,  with  his  report  book  under  his 
arm,  was  pushing  aside  the  entrance  to  my  tent, 
Lieutenant  Sinclair  came  in,  and  with  a  flushed 
face  and  an  excited  manner,  exclaimed,  "  Do  you 
encourage  the  orderly  sergeant  to  make  insulting 
remarks  about  an  officer?" 

I  made  no  reply  to  his  question,  but  made  him 
feel  by  my  manner  that  I  was  displeased. 

"I  heard  the  talk,"  he  continued  more  moder- 
ately, "  that  you  had  with  Sergeant  Key  !  " 

I  was  now  angry,  and,  rising,  faced  him,  saying 
in  very  frosty  tones,  "  If  you  have  been  listening 
to  my  remarks,  and  heard  anything  which  you  in- 
terpret as  insulting  to  you  personally,  I  cannot  be 
responsible  for  it !  " 

"  I  am  not  blaming  you,  Alden,"  he  replied  with 
a  cringing  manner ;  "  it's  that  d sergeant !  " 

"  I  allow  no  profanity  in  my  quarters.  Lieuten- 
ant," I  responded ;  "  and  I  allow  no  sergeant  or 
under  officer  to  speak  disrespectfully  of  officers  in 
my  presence,  no  matter  how  much  to  blame  they 
may  be.  You  must  be  on  your  guard  not  to 
occasion  disrespect  hereafter  !  " 


242  JACK  ALDEN. 

The  lieutenant  was  from  that  day  a  bitter 
enemy  of  Sergeant  Key,  and  took  every  opportu- 
nity to  injure  him. 

The  general  spirit  of  the  army  after  Fredericks- 
burg was  one  of  discontent  and  gloom.  The  men 
of  the  company  of  which  I  was  the  commanding 
officer  respected  me,  and  were  kept  in  subordina- 
tion by  that  respect ;  but  they  could  not  be  kept 
from  being  disrespectful  to  one  whom  they  be- 
lieved had  shammed  sickness  to  avoid  the  perils 
of  battle.  They  also  growled  that  an  income 
petent  general  had  been  allowed  to  blunder  away 
the  lives  of  their  comrades  in  a  fruitless  attack 
on  an  unassailable  position. 

The  soul  of  an  army  is  its  morale  —  that  quality 
which  is  so  undefinable ;  made  up  of  prejudice, 
passion,  and  inference,  but  to  which  is  attribu- 
table, more  than  to  its  members,  its  failures  and 
successes.  This  soul  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac 
was  tinged  with  dejection,  discouragement,  and 
want  of  confidence.     It  had  the  blues. 

Fortunately  for  the  country,  however,  it  was 
made  up  of  intelligent  and  patriotic  elements, — 
citizens  who  had  left  their  homes  to  defend  the 
flag,  and  who  deeply  loved  the  cause  they  had 
taken  up  arms  to  defend.  It  was  a  great  body 
of  patriotic  men,  who  unselfishly  served,  with  ex- 
pectation of  neither  reward  nor  preferment  other 
than  victory  for  the  cause  and  consequent  abiding 
peace  for  the  nation.     The  world  had  never  seen 


I  pulled  him  to  his  feet,  and  angrily  shook  him. 
—  Page  245. 


DISCONTENT.  243 

such  men  in  the  ranks  before;  and  it  was  their 
faith  and  devotion  to  the  cause  of  their  country 
that  formed  a  bond  of  cohesion  when  those  of 
discipline  failed. 

But  such  men  also  loved  their  homes  and  fami- 
lies ;  and  when  furloughs  were  refused  to  those 
who  had  sick  children,  or  aged  parents,  they  some- 
times walked  off  to  see  them,  on  French  leave. 

Distrust,  discouragement,  and  want  of  confi- 
dence are  among  the  malign  influences  under 
which  an  army  is  destroyed  more  surely  than  by 
the  bullets  of  an  enemy;  and  such  were  the  dis- 
integrating influences  that  prevailed  after  the 
battle  of    Fredericksburg. 

I  visited  the  field  hospital  a  day  or  two  after 
the  battle,  to  see  Captain  Mason  and  General 
Blusterson,  both  of  whom  had  been  mentioned 
for  bravery  in  general  orders. 

I  found  General  Blusterson  amusing  himself  by 
whittling  at  a  mqdel  of  an  artificial  leg,  for  which, 
he  told  me,  he  intended  to  secure  letters  patent. 

"  Do  you  think,"  I  said,  "  a  man  who  has  lost 
a  leg  will  want  a  contrivance  like  that?  " 

"Want  it?"  exclaimed  the  general,  "they'll 
run  after  it  and  howl  for  it  I" 

Captain  Mason's  wound  was  not  progressing  as 
favorably  as  the  general's.  The  bullet  could  not 
be  found ;  and  although  he  was  very  cheerful,  there 
was  a  sunken  look  about  his  temples  that  showed 
that  his  vitality  was  seriously  impaired. 


244  JACK  ALDEN. 

Mrs.  Grim  had  written  to  me  regarding  her 
husband.  It  was  one  of  the  phases  of  womanhood 
which  I  did  not  understand,  that,  notwithstanding 
the  uncertainty  of  her  husband's  fate,  she  ex- 
pressed the  utmost  confidence  that  he  was  still 
alive. 

"  If,"  said  Mary  Grim  in  her  letter,  "he  was  not 
coming  back  again,  I  should  know  it  and  feel  it : 
he  is  not  dead."  Such  intuitions  are  not  un- 
common among  women ;  and  although  I  cannot 
explain  them,  my  experience  tells  me  that  they 
seldom  fail  to  be  justified  by  after  events. 

"  That's  right,"  said  General  Blusterson,  in  his 
most  confident  manner  after  I  had  read  the  letter 
to  him ;  "  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  Grim  is  liv- 
ing. The  Confederates  seldom  take  pains  to  cap- 
ture badly  wounded  men,  and  never  send  dead 
men  to  prison.  By  the  way,"  said  he,  "  have  you 
got  those  notes  of  hand  that  your  uncle  gave  me 
for  the  pegging-machine  patent  yet?" 

I  told  him  I  expected  to  hear  from  my  brother, 
but  had  received  no  letters  from  him  lately. 

In  a  few  days  many  of  the  sick  and  wounded 
were  removed  from  the  field  hospital  to  Washing- 
ton, and  among  theili  were  Captain  Mason  and 
General  Blusterson. 

Two  weeks  had  passed,  and  I  still  received  no 
letters  from  home,  nor  had  anything  been  heard  of 
Major  Grim. 

About   this   time   I   began   to   superintend  the 


DISCONTENT.  246 

building  of  a  log  hut  for  winter  quarters.  I  had 
got  the  walls  chinked  with  adhesive  Virginia  mud, 
its  clay  floor  pounded  hard  and  smooth,  a  com- 
bination of  sticks,  mud,  and  a  pork-barrel  for  a 
chimney,  and  was  putting  up  a  bunk  and  shelves. 

I  seldom  sent  Roily  after  anything  of  a  special 
character,  he  was  so  provokingly  deliberate  and 
uncertain.  This  time  I  was  in  a  hurry,  however, 
and  so  sent  him  to  buy  some  nails  at  the  sutler's. 
As  he  did  not  return,  I  went  to  the  sutler's  myself, 
and  on  the  way  discovered  Roily  sitting  on  the 
sunny  side  of  a  })ontoon,  in  companionship  with 
some  of  his  mates,  lazily  and  leisurely  eating  from 
a  huge  chunk  of  molasses  candy. 

Angrily  I  asked  him  where  the  nails  were  that 
I  had  sent  him  for. 

He  deliberately  removed  the  candy  from  liis 
mouth,  and  in  provokingly  slow  tones  replied, 
"Nails,  boss?     I  hasn't  seen  no  nails!" 

"Didn't  I  send  you,"  I  sternly  asked,  "for  nails, 
and  tell  you  to  hurry?  " 

His  manner  of  assumed  forgetfulness  was  so 
exasperating,  that  I  j)ulled  him  to  his  feet,  and 
angrily  shook  him,  when  there  fell  from  some 
pocket  or  other  recess  in  his  ragged  jacket,  a 
shower  of  dirty  letters  and  other  odds  and  ends. 
Among  the  letters,  which  were  most  of  them  di- 
rected to  me,  was  one  from  Mary  INIilner,  several 
from  my  brother,  and  one  for  Mrs.  Grim  addressed 
to  my  care  in  a  strange  handwriting. 


246  JACK  ALDEN. 

I  was  so  much  interested  in  the  contents  of  my 
letters,  that  I  forgot  to  give  Roily  a  much-deserved 
thrashing,  or  to  question  him,  until  he  was  moving 
off  with  his  mouth  glued  to  his  taffy,  when  I  shouted 
after  him,  "Where  did  you  get  these  letters  ?" 

"  I  dun  forgot,  boss,"  he  replied,  and  went  on. 

The  letter  was  an  open  one  to  Mrs.  Grim,  and 
proved  to  be  one  written  two  days  after  the  battle, 
by  a  private  soldier  of  the  regiment,  informing 
her  that  Grim  was  a  prisoner,  and  had  been  hurt. 
This  letter  probably  came  through  our  lines  under 
a  flag  of  truce,  before  Grim  was  sent  to  Richmond. 

In  the  letter  it  was  simply  said  Grim  had  been 
stunned  by  an  injury  during  the  battle,  and  that 
Avhen  he  became  conscious  he  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  enemy.  Also  that  he  was  now  all  right  except 
that  his  head  still  gave  him  trouble,  and  that  his 
memory  was  not  good  enough  to  write,  but  that 
the  rebel  surgeon  had  assured  him  that  there  was 
no  fracture  of  the  skull. 

My  letters  from  home  were  some  of  them  nearly 
a  month  old.  I  of  course  sent  Major  Grim's  letter 
to  his  wife  at  once. 

Among  those  from  home  was  one  containing  the 
notes  of  hand  that  I  had  sent  for,  which  I  at  once 
sent  to  General  Increase  Blusterson,  Washington, 
D.C.,  for  his  indorsement  and  return. 

After  finishing  my  letters  I  started  out  to  find 
Roily,  that  I  might  punish  him  sufficiently  to  keep 
him  away  from  my  quarters  thereafter. 


A    VISIT   TO    WASHINGTON.  247 


CHAPTER   XXII. 

A   VISIT    TO    WASHINGTON. 

Shortly  after  finishing  my  winter  quarters,  I 
applied  for  a  pass  to  go  to  Washington.  Certain 
equipments  of  the  companj-,  such  as  tompions  to 
muskets,  bayonets,  and  musket-straps,  as  well  as 
muskets,  were  missing.  I,  being  in  command  of 
the  company,  must  make  such  affidavits  as  to  what 
had  become  of  them,  as  Add  said  would  blister  an 
ordinary  paper,  or  else  have  my  pay  stopped  to 
make  good  the  deficiencies.  I  wanted  to  go  to 
Washington  to  explain  this,  and  also  to  see  Dr. 
Milner  and  Captain  Mason. 

While  awaiting  the  slow  winding  and  unwind- 
ing of  red  tape  incident  to  obtaining  this  pass,  I 
had  discharged  Roily  several  times  ;  but,  like  a 
gun  heavily  loaded,  his  indifference  had  recoiled 
and  sent  him  back  on  my  hands  again. 

I  was  giving  him  a  long- threatened  thrashing, 
and  discharging  him  once  more,  when  Sergeant 
Addison  Key  came  in  with  his  morning  report. 

"  You  lick  that  little  nig  too  much  in  the  Ital- 
ian style,''  he  said,  laying  down  his  report.  "  He 
don't  mind  it  one  bit," 


248  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  I  don't  understand  what  you  mean,  Sergeant. 
Key,"  I  replied  stiffly. 

"  Why,"  said  Add,  without  venturing  a  smile, 
"  the  Italian  style  is  where  the  heavy  strokes  are 
upward  and  the  light  ones  downward." 

My  leave  of  absence  had  come  that  morning, 
and  I,  consequently  being  in  good-humor,  replied 
to  Add  that  I  thought  Roily  Avould  stay  discharged 
until  I  could  return  from  Wasliington. 

There  were  a  number  of  reasons  besides  those 
given  that  made  me  desirous  of  visiting  the  capi- 
tal, and  among  them  was  the  desire  to  secure  for 
Sergeant  Key  the  position  of  second  lieutenant 
of  the  company.  He  had  made  a  good  orderly 
sergeant,  and  had  developed  some  qualities  in 
managing  men  that  would  make  him  a  desirable 
connnissioned  officer.  He  could  get  more  drill 
and  work  out  of  the  men,  and  that  in  the  easiest 
manner,  than  any  other  non-commissioned  officer 
in  the  regiment.  The  men  respected  him  for  his 
soldierly  qualities,  and  began  to  say,  "  Sergeant 
Key  is  full  of  nonsense ;  but  he  has  got  lots  of 
good  sense  too,  and  is  no  shirk  in  a  fight." 

I  started  by  way  of  Aquia  Creek  ;  and  when  half 
way  to  Washington  I  was  very  hungry,  no  meals 
being  served  on  board  the  boat.  To  my  astonish- 
ment the  irrepressible  Roily  here  appeared  with 
chicken  and  hot  coffee,  which  he  had  prepared  in 
the  engine-room  of  the  steamer,  making  me  feel  by 
his  forgiving  manner  that  he  was  the  better  Chris- 
tian of  the  two. 


A    VIS  17'  TO   WASHINGTON.  249 

On  the  afternoon  of  my  arrival  in  Washington, 

I   went    up  town  to  the  Hospital,    where    I 

learned  that  my  general  and  captain  were  under 
treatment.     Roily  followed  with  my  satchel. 

On  going  to  the  office  to  get  permission  for  my 
visit,  I  found  Dr.  Milner  in  chaige.  The  doctor 
seemed  very  glad  to  see  me,  and  sent  at  once  for 
Miss  May  to  come  to  the  office.  While  waiting  I 
wondered  to  myself  how,  as  I  had  not  mentioned 
her  name,  he  knew  that  I  wanted  to  see  her. 

I  must  here  confess  that  I  found  my  heart  flut- 
tering and  my  throat  growing  very  dry,  at  the  an- 
ticipation of  seeing  her.  When  she  came,  the  sight 
of  her  beautiful  face  did  not  remedy  the  matter, 
and  I  was  forgetful  of  everything  but  her  presence. 
My  pleasure  was,  however,  soon  interrupted  by 
the  appearance  of  a  black-eyed,  bearded  young  fel- 
low, in  the  uniform  of  a  medical  cadet,  who  came 
in,  saying  to  Miss  Milner,  "  I  must  see  you  just  a 
moment." 

A  flash  of  recognition  passed  between  me  and 
the  cadet;  for  it  was  none  other  than  the  aristo- 
cratic George  Raymond  of  Baltimore,  whom  I 
supposed  to  be  far  away  in  the  Confederacy. 

It  was  like  a  wet  blanket,  —  a  kill-joy  to  me ; 
and  I  angrily  determined  to  see  Miss  May  once 
more,  and  then  to  leave  Washington  that  very 
night.  She  went  out  for  a  moment,  but  returned 
again  with  a  deep  flush  on  her  face,  explaining 
that  one  of  her  patients  had  required  her  attention. 


250  JACK  ALDEI^. 

" How  came  that  Raymond  fellow  here?  "  I  said, 
with  the  lump  in  my  throat  settling  down  on  my 
heart.  "  I  thought  he  was  in  the  Confederate  ser- 
vice." 

"Mr.  Raymond?  Oh,  don't  you  know?  Hasn't 
papa  told  you  that  he  was  captured  at  the  second 
battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  that  he  has  taken  the  oath, 
and  is  a  good  Union  man  now?  It  would  make 
your  blood  run  cold  to  hear  Mr.  Raymond  tell  how 
he  suffered  when  he  was  in  the  Confederate  ser- 
vice. He  told  me  with  his  own  lips  that  he  went 
for  a  number  of  days  without  tonics  or  washing." 

I  must  have  turned  green  internally,  and  some 
of  the  color  must  have  shown  in  my  face,  for  Miss 
May  began  to  inquire  in  regard  to  my  welfare, 
and  of  my  promotion  and  expectations  so  pleas- 
antly, and  allowed  me  to  hold  her  hand  so  will- 
ingly, that  I  forgot  my  displeasure,  my  errands, 
and  everything  else,  in  that  ecstatic  employment, 
and  should  no  doubt  have  been  sitting  there  until 
this  time,  had  not  the  doctor  come  in  and  dis- 
pelled my  bliss  by  saying,  "  General  Blusterson 
and  Captain  Mason  are  ready  to  see  you." 

"  The  general !  "  exclaimed  May.  "  Do  you 
know  him?  He's  so  polite  and  complimentary, 
and  so  cheerful.  He  is  almost  always  whit- 
tling." 

My  feelings  were  becoming  a  little  tinged  with 
green  once  more,  and  I  hastened  to  inquire  about 
Captain  Mason.     The  doctor  replied,  "It  makes 


A    VISIT  TO   WASHINGTON  251 

me  believe  in  everything  good  to  know  such  a 
man.  His  piety  seems  to  be  the  main  element  in 
his  character.  It  doesn't  chill  one,  but  warms 
like  the  sun.  In  him  religion  seems  exhilarating 
and  genial ;  but  I  fear  there  is  no  hope  for  the 
poor  fellow,  and  he  knows  it  too." 

"  Why,  papa,  I  asked  him  how  he  slept  last 
night,"  said  Miss  May,  "  and  he  said,  '  Like  an 
angel ; '  I  thought  he  was  getting  better !  " 

All  this  time  we  were  passing  through  corri- 
dors, the  air  of  which  was  permeated  with  fumes 
of  chloroform  and  carbolic  acid,  while  from  the 
rooms  on  either  side  came  low,  tremulous  wails." 

"  Thei'e's  the  poor  fellow  they  brought  in  last 
night,"  said  the  doctor ;  "  but  he's  not  conscious 
of  pain,  —  dying,  though." 

After  passing  down  a  long  line  of  beds,  from 
Avhich  eyes  pleading  for  sympathy  followed  us,  we 
came  to  Captain  Mason's  room.  He  had  changed 
strangely.  His  temples  were  hollowed,  and  the 
blue  veins  stood  out  on  his  almost  transparent 
forehead  and  hands ;  but  there  was  the  same  lofty, 
commanding  look  on  his  brow,  and  as  he  grasped 
my  hand  his  smile  was  triumphantly  spiritual.  I 
cannot  express  in  words  the  purity  of  his  face  and 
expression.  As  I  sat  holding  his  hand  in  mine  his 
mother  came  in ;  and  when  he  mentioned  my  name, 
she  at  once  recognized  me,  and  spoke  of  my  father 
as  a  former  friend  of  her  husband.  Like  New 
England  matrons   of  her  class,   she   showed  out- 


252  JACK  ALDEN. 

wardly  but  little  of  her  feelings.  I  knew,  how- 
ever, by  an  indefinable  something  that  the  thought 
was  constantly  with  her  that  she  must  soon  lose 
her  noble  boy. 

In  a  corner  of  the  hospital  looking  out  on  the 
river  was  General  Blusterson's  room.  As  I  en- 
tered, the  general  was  beetling  his  brows  over  a 
complicated  combination  of  brass  and  sheepskin, 
resembling  in  form  a  human  leg.  He  was  so  in- 
tent on  fitting  the  pieces  together  that  he  did  not 
look  up  until  I  called  his  name.  Then  he  laid  the 
parts  he  was  adjusting  on  the  bed,  and  standing  on 
one  leg  greeted  me  with,  "  Alden,  it  does  me  more 
good  to  see  you  than  I  can  tell.  I  didn't  know, 
Alden,  but    you  had  forgotten    your  old   uncle." 

After  mentioning  the  affairs  of  the  company,  I 
spoke  of  Captain  Mason. 

"  If  that  Lieutenan  Sinclair  was  in  Mason's 
place  I  should  feel  reconciled,  and  able  to  consider 
it  a  dispensation  of  Providence,"  said  the  general ; 
"  but  now  it  seems  hard.  If  I  had  a  son  like 
him,"  he  continued  with  a  suspicious  choking  of 
utterance,  "  I'd  be  proud  of  him.  It's  hard  to  lose 
such  a  fine  officer.  How's  my  wound  ?  Why,  it's 
all  right.  I  don't  worry  over  it.  What  you've 
lost,  you've  lost.  I  don't  trouble  my  head  about 
it.  I'll  soon  throw  those  crutches  away,  and  be 
walking  around  as  good  as  any  one." 

Then  the  general  took  up  his  crutches,  went  to 
the  door,  looked  down  the  long  corridor,  listened, 


A    VI SI 7'  TO   WASHINGTON.  253 

and  then,  as  if  satisfied,  came  back,  unrolled  the 
bandage  on  his  leg,  inserted  the  stump  into  the 
aperture  intended  for  it,  then  adjusted  his  patent 
leg,  let  the  trousers  leg  drop,  and  walked  up  and 
down  the  room   with  but  little  limping. 

While  walking  he  gave  a  sharp  cry,  and  I 
quickly  helped  him  to  remove  the  artificial  leg, 
which  had  hurt  him  by  bringing  an  unfinished 
part  in  contact  with  his  wound.  We  had  no 
sooner  got  the  bandages  adjusted  than  Miss  May 
and  her  father  came  down  the  corridor. 

"  Humph  !  "  ejaculated  the  doctor,  looking  at  the 
general's  face,  and  then  at  the  patent  leg,  which 
was  lying  on  the  bed.  "  Been  at  it  again  ?  You'll 
be  a  victim  of  science  one  of  these  days,  General." 

"  Let  me  see  how  much  you've  hurt  it,  you  bad 
man,  you  I  "  said  May,  unrolling  the  bandage,  and 
scolding  in  her  half-earnest   manner. 

"  Humph  !  "  exclaimed  the  doctor  again,  "  irri- 
tated !    inflamed !  " 

"  You  see,"  said  the  general,  taking  up  his  arti- 
ficial contrivance,  "  the  stump  of  my  leg  don't 
have  play  enough  in  that  socket;  needs  more  play. 
I'll  file  it  a  little  this  afternoon,  and  then  it  will 
be  all  right.  I  was  showing  Alden  how  it  worked, 
when  that  part  there  gave  out,  and  the  stump 
struck  the  rough  part,  and  stirred  up  the  sore  a 
little,   I  guess.     Didn't  hurt  much  !  " 

The  doctor  looked  on  with  an  amused  smile, 
while    the   general   explained. 


254  .  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  Do  I  think  a  one-legged  man  will  want  to 
wear  such  a  contrivance  ?  Why,  they'll  run  after 
them,"  said  the  general  with  his  humorous  shake 
of  the  head.  "  They  can't  be  made  fast  enough 
for  'em,  gentlemen  !  " 

After  May  and  her  father  had  gone  out,  the 
general  said,  "  That  little  piece  of  dry-goods 
keeps  everything  bright  here.  That  Raymond 
chap,  he  consumes  more  commissary  wliiskey  than 
is  good  for  him  j  nothing  bad  about  the  boy,  other- 
wise." 

And  Blusterson  began  with  a  file  to  work  once 
more  on  his  substitute  for  a  leg,  saying,  "I  tell 
you,  my  boy,  there's  a  fortune  in  that  thing ! 
I've  got  my  patent;  strong  specifications,  covers 
everything,  and  you'll  see  a  rush  for  'em  when 
they  are  put  on  the  market." 

That  night,  by  the  doctor's  urgent  request,  I 
stayed  at  the  hospital,  spending  most  of  my  time 
with  Captain  Mason,  telling  him  about  the  com- 
pany, securing  his  recommendation,  with  General 
Blusterson's,  for  Add's  promotion,  and  also  getting 
tlie  general  to  transfer  to  me  the  notes  of  hand 
which  were  to  be  sent  to  my  brother. 

I  went  to  my  room  about  ten  o'clock,  but  lay 
awake  long,  unable  to  sleep  for  thinking  of  Cap- 
tain Mason,  May  Milner,  young  Raymond,  and 
also  because  the  air  of  a  room,  to  one  long  accus- 
tomed to  a  tent,  seemed  stuffy  and  close. 

I  had  just  got  into  a  doze,  when  a  rapping  on 


A    VISIT  TO   WASHINGTON.  255 

my  door  awoke  me.  In  a  moment  I  was  up  and 
dressed,  with  soldierly  alacrity,  and  had  opened 
the  door. 

"What  is  it?"  I  inquired  of  Miss  May,  who 
stood  at  the  door  with  a  lighted  candle  in  her 
hand. 

"  Captain  Mason  is  worse ;  he  wants  to  see 
you,"  she  replied.     "I  fear  he  will  not  last  long." 

As  I  entered  his  room,  I  found  his  mother  sit- 
ting by  the  side  of  the  narrow  white  cot,  which 
was  surrounded  with  screens. 

A  triumphant  smile  wreathed  his  lips  as  he 
took  my  hand ;  and,  trying  to  raise  himself,  he  said 
with  a  gasping  effort,  "  Jack,  old  comrade,  I've 
got  my  marching  orders  at  layt."  Then  after 
breathing  a  moment  in  gasps  he  said,  "  Give  all 
the  boys  my  love."  He  lay  for  a  while  with 
closed  eyes,  but  occasionally  pressing  my  hand. 
As  the  long  hours  dragged  on,  he  would  some- 
times open  his  eyes  to  smile  on  his  mother,  and 
once,  with  an  effort,  he  said,  "  God  knows  best, 
mother.  I  don't  doubt  him."  Then  his  mind 
began  to  wander;  and  just  as  the  sun  .lit  up  the 
hospital  wards  with  a  golden  ray,  he  started  up, 
and  with  clear,  sharp  tones  of  command  exclaimed, 
"  Forward  !  to  the  last  charge,  boys  ! "  then  fell 
back,  and  with  one  more  smile  of  recognition,  and 
whispering,  "  Mother,  Jack,"  he  peacefully  and 
smilingly  fell  asleep  in  the  arms  of  Him,  his 
Master. 


266  JACK  ALDEN. 

Oh,  how  dark  the  world  seemed  to  me  at  such 
a  loss !  It  was  sad  to  see  such  a  sacrifice ;  yet  it 
was  a  sacred,  beautiful  sight,  —  the  death  of  a 
Christian  soldier,  oue  who  loved  his  country  and 
his  God. 

Such  a  character,  consecrated  to  our  cause ; 
such  a  life,  rounded  out  and  finished  and  given 
to  such  a  service!  If  it  was  painful  to  think  of 
our  loss,  it  was  joy  to  think  of  what  was  imperish- 
ably  preserved  in  heaven. 

There  were  a  few  simple  rites,  and  then  his 
sorrowing,  saintly  mother  took  his  body  to  her 
home,  to  be  buried  among  his  kindred. 

Mason  was  a  genuine  son  of  New  England.  Of 
strong  common-sense,  rapid  of  thought  and  ex- 
pression, he  had  never  failed  to  win  the  love  and 
admiration  of  all  with  whom  he  came  in  contact. 
His  religion  sat  gracefully  upon  him.  It  was 
spontaneous  —  it  was  himself.  Even  Roily  felt 
the  sweetness  of  his  character,  and  I  found  him 
weeping  in  a  corner  after  the  service  was  over. 

I  was  absent  from  my  company  less  than  a  week, 
and  then  returned  once  more  to  my  duties  at  Fal- 
mouth, saddened  at  the  loss  of  my  friend,  and  feel- 
ing not  a  little  blue  at  leaving  May  Milner  under 
the  influences  of  Raymond. 


A   COURT-MARTIAL.  257 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

A   COURT-MAETIAL. 

On  my  return  to  Falmouth,  I  learned,  to  my 
surprise,  that  during  my  absence  Add  had  been 
ordered  under  arrest  by  Lieutenant  Sinclair.  I 
sent  for  the  lieutenant,  and  asked  for  an  explana- 
tion. 

"  What,"  I  inquired,  "  is  the  trouble  with  Ser- 
geant Key,  that  you  have  placed  him  under  arrest?  " 

"  I  am  sorry,"  he  replied,  "  to  have  felt  obliged, 
for  the  good  of  the  service,  to  have  ordered  a 
favorite  of  yours  under  arrest;  but  he  was  disre- 
spectful, and  when  I  reproved  him,  he  struck  me." 

"I  have  known  Key  for  years,"  I  said,  "and 
have  never  known  him  to  be  wanting  in  respect  to 
any  proper  person,  much  less  an  officer." 

"  Do  you  intend,"  he  angrily  exclaimed,  "  to 
doubt  my  word,  and  to  insinuate  that  I  am  not 
a  proper  person  ?  " 

"  No,"  I  replied  coolly ;  "  you  made  the  applica- 
tion of  the  term  yourself.  I  am  simply  trying  to 
account  for  something  that  I  don't  understand. 
Be  careful,  or  this  arrest  will  recoil  on  your  own 
head," 


258  JACK  ALDEN. 

During  the  day  I  received  a  message  from  Add, 
stating  that  he  desired  to  see  me.  Later  I  sent  for 
him  to  come  to  my  quarters,  and  then  learned  his 
version  of  the  circumstances  attending  his  arrest. 

He  had  taken  the  morning  report  of  the  com- 
pany to  Lieutenant  Sinclair  at  the  usual  hour, 
about  nine  o'clock.  The  lieutenant  cursed  him, 
and  angrily  accused  him  of  intruding  into  his 
quarters  at  an  unusual  hour. 

"  I  saw,"  said  Add,,  "  that  he  was  getting  up 
'  wrong  end  to,'  and  was  sjDoiling  for  a  fuss,  so 
I  got  out,  and  stayed  out  until  about  half-past  ten, 
when  I  saw  him  moving  around  his  quarters,  and 
again  went  there  with  the  report  book,  asking  if 
he  was  ready  to  look  over  the  report  and  sign  it. 
He  began  abusing  me  for  not  bringing  the  report 
before.  I  mentioned  that  I  had  been  there  with 
it  at  the  usual  hour,  and  had  waited  until  I  knew 
he  was  dressed  before  coming  again." 

Lieutenant  Sinclair  signed  the  report;  and  as 
Sergeant  Key  tucked  it  under  his  arm,  and  was  still 
facing  the  lieutenant,  that  officer  said,  "  Be  more 
respectful  when  you  come  to  these  quarters  again." 

"I  said,"  continued  Add,  "that  I  tried  to  be 
respectful,  when  he  turned  on  me,  and  furiously 
exclaimed,  '  Do  you  mean  to  insult  me,  you  dog  ? 
Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  I  lie?'  and  he  aimed  a 
blow  at  my  head  that  would  have  knocked  me 
down  if  I  hadn't  put  up  my  left  arm  to  ward 
it  off." 


A    COURT-MARTIAL.  250 

"  Well,"  I  inquired,  "  what  next?  " 

"  I  felt  that  he  meant  to  get  me  into  a  scrape, 
and  I  backed  out;  but,"  continued  Add,  with  his 
fist  clinched  and  his  eyes  flashing,  "  I  would  have 
liked  to  have  knocked  him  '  end  over  end.'  After 
I  got  to  my  quarters  I  was  told  to  consider  myself 
under  arrest." 

Poor  Add !  One  thing  was  certain,  and  that  was 
that  his  arrest  would  spoil  his  chance  for  promo- 
tion, even  if  his  guilt  Avas  not  proved  ;  and  such, 
moreover,  was  evidently  the  intention  of  Sinclaii-. 

After  Add  had  gone  from  my  office  I  thought 
over  the  matter,  and  the  case  seemed  to  me  to 
stand  as  follows.  The  charge  against  Add  was 
supported  by  the  statement  of  Lieutenant  Sinclair 
alone,  and  the  defence  consisted  simply  of  a 
denial.  Unless  more  positive  evidence  was  ob- 
tained. Sergeant  Key's  chance  for  an  acquittal 
from  the  charges  preferred  would,  I  felt,  be  very 
poor  before  a  general  court-martial. 

Here  let  me  explain  that  for  a  private,  or  a 
non-commissioned  man,  to  strike  a  superior  officer, 
is  one  of  the  most  serious  offences  known  in 
military  crimes,  and  that  the  evidence  of  a  com- 
missioned officer  is  often  final  against  his  inferior. 

It  is  a  saying  among  old  soldiers  that  "  a  court- 
martial  is  convened  to  convict,"  and  that  a  person 
once  accused  is  supposed  by  such  a  court  to  be 
guilty  until  proved  to  be  innocent ;  thus  reversing 
the  ordinary  dictum  of  civil  law. 


260  JACK  ALDEN. 

Hence,  althougli  I  was  convinced  that  Sinclair's 
charges  were  made  with  the  cold-blooded  intention 
of  ruining  Add,  and  the  non-commissioned  officers 
and  rank  and  file  were  of  this  same  opinion,  yet, 
strange  to  say,  there  seemed  to  be  no  way  of 
securing  the  acquittal  of  the  accused. 

I  wrote  to  General  Blusterson,  asking  him  to 
use  his  influence  to  have  the  charge  dismissed. 
I  stated  to  officers  of  my  acquaintances  my  views, 
as  given  here.  Most  of  them  shook  their  heads, 
said  it  was  bad  form  for  an  officer  to  take  sides 
with  a  man  in  the  ranks,  and  that  I'd  better  not 
interfere,  though  some  advised  me  to  prefer  coun- 
ter charges  against  Sinclair. 

While  this  affair  was  pending,  other  scenes  of 
national  significance,  and  which  dwarfed  individual 
concerns,  were  taking  place  on  the  broad  theatre 
of  war. 

On  the  17th  of  January  it  was  apparent  that  an 
important  military  movement  was  on  foot.  Sixty 
rounds  of  cartridges  and  three  days'  rations  were 
issued  to  the  regiment  on  the  18th,  and  orders 
were  received  to  be  ready  to  move  at  a  moment's 
notice. 

"  This,"  I  remarked  to  my  senior  officer,  "  looks 
like  a  winter  campaign.  What  does  it  mean?" 
The  old  captain  shook  his  head  dubiously,  saying, 
"  More  foolishness,  I  suppose." 

On  the  19th  the  men,  loaded  with  baggage,  ra- 
tions, and  equipments  (about  sixty  pounds  to  each 


A    COURT-MARTIAL.  261 

man,  which  in  military  terms  was  facetiously 
called  "light  marching  order"),  started  out  on 
their  new  adventures. 

I  heard  one  of  our  men  growling  about  the 
foolishness  of  making  a  movement  at  that  time 
of  the  year,  and  others  saying  that  the  best 
sergeant  in  the  company  was  now  under  arrest 
when  he  was  most  needed,  which  showed  me 
that  they  had  decided  opinions  about  Sergeant 
Key's  affair. 

The  military  situation,  meanwhile,  was  dubious. 
General.  Burnside,  who  since  the  fatal  battle  at 
Fredericksburg  had  lost  the  confidence  of  the 
army,  sought  to  re-establish  himself  in  its  good 
opinion  by  making  a  movement  on  the  enemy's 
left  flank,  although  the  confidence  of  his  army 
was  the  first  condition  by  which  his  success  could 
be  assured.  His  plan  was  to  cross  tlie  Rappahan- 
nock at  Bank's  Ford,  six  miles  above  Falmouth, 
and  with  the  Grand  Divisions  of  Franklin  and 
Hooker  attack  the  enemy. 

Our  corps  was  meanwhile  sent  below  Freder- 
icksburg, where  at  the  battle  Franklin  had  crossed 
the  Rappahannock,  to  make  a  demonstration  of 
attacking  there,  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  guard- 
ing the  communications  of  the  army. 

The  weather  and  roads  up  to  this  time  had 
remained  good ;  but  during  the  night  of  the  20th 
a  wild,  cold,  driving  storm  of  rain  and  sleet  set  in. 
The  roads  soon  became  as  impassable  as  though 


262  JACK  ALDEN. 

they  were  three  feet  deep  with  slightly  warmed 
tar,  and  all  attempts  at  further  movement  were 
useless. 

Disgusted,  dispirited,  bedraggled,  leaving  be- 
hind it  a  trail  of  graves  and  wrecked  wagons,  dead 
mules  and  horses,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  turned 
tail,  and  with  sarcastic  laughter  and  jokes,  floun- 
dered back  through  the  mud,  like  flies  making  a 
tour  through  molasses,  to  its  old  camping-ground. 

All  through  this  campaign  Sinclair  shirked 
duty,  and  at  one  time,  while  detailed  as  officer 
of  the  guard,  had  gone  to  sleep  in  one  of  tlie  bag- 
gage wagons.  As  Roily  was  notoriously  known  to 
be  asleep  when  wanted,  the  men  slyly  termed  Sin- 
clair, RoUy-Pooly,  Jr.,  which  was  another  cause 
of  grievance  to  that  officer. 

On  reaching  the  camp,  the  mud  of  the  recent 
campaign  seemed  to  have  settled  on  the  spirits 
of  the  army.  The  men  criticised  their  superiors 
freely,  until  it  appeared  that  the  rank  and  file  con- 
sidered themselves  better  soldiers  than  their  com- 
manders. Men  in  winter  quarters  were  a  sort  of 
a  committee  of  the  whole  on  the  condition  of  the 
army,  and  the  conclusions  reached  were  not  flatter- 
ing or  favorable  to  the  higher  officers. 

At  last  Add's  trial  by  court-martial  took  place. 
In  a  large  tent  around  a  pine  table  sat  the  officers 
composing  the  general  court.  Several  cases  had 
been  tried,  and  the  court  was  already  wearied, 
when   the   case    of    Sergeant   Addison   Key   was 


A    COURT-MARTIAL.  263 

called.  The  charges  and  specifications  were  read 
in  a  monotonous  tone ;  the  Judge  Advocate 
yawned.  Sergeant  Key,  neatly  dressed,  his  boots 
blacked,  and  his  buttons  shining,  looking  every 
inch  a  soldier,  stepped  forward. 

His  intelligent,  resolute  face  evidently  made  a 
favorable  impression  on  the  court  as  he  j^lea-ded, 
"Not  guilty." 

Lieutenant  Sinclair,  as  first  witness  for  the 
prosecution,  was  called.  His  handsome  but  dissi- 
pated face,  his  restless  eye,  that  did  not  meet  those 
of  the  Judge  Advocate  in  the  manly,  straightfor- 
ward way  that  was  characteristic  of  Sergeant  Key, 
was  I  felt,  a  favorable    contrast  for  the  accused. 

Lieutenant  Sinclair  told  his  story  with  but 
little  variation  from  the  one  he  had  told   me. 

"  You  say,"  interrogated  the  Judge  Advocate, 
"that  Sergeant  Key  struck  you  with  his  right 
hand.  Do  you  wish  to  correct  this  evidence  in 
any  way?  " 

Sinclair  hesitated,  glanced  around  at  those  com- 
posing the  court,  and  then,  as  if  reassured,  replied, 
"  No  ;  none  whatever." 

"  Have  you  other  witnesses  ?  " 

"  None,"  said  Sinclair. 

Sergeant  Standish  was  called  for  the  defence. 
His  testimony  was,  in  substance,  that  he  had  heard 
loud  talk  in  the  company  quarters  on  the  morning 
of  the  20th  of  December,  at  about  nine  o'clock, 
and  again  at  about  ten  in  the  morning.     The  first 


264  JACK  ALDEN. 

time  he  recognized  tlie  voice  as  that  of  Lieutenant 
Sinclair,  who  accused  some  one  of  disturbing  him. 
The  second  time  he  had  heard  the  same  voice  an- 
grily cursing  some  one,  and  at  the  same  time  had 
seen  Sergeant  Key  backing  out  from  the  company 
quarters  with  the  company  report  book  under  his 
riglit  arm,  and  with  his  left  hand  held  up  in  front 
of  his  face  as  if  to  shield  it  from  a  blow. 

"  Did  you  see  Sergeant  Key  make  any  motion 
with  his  hand?  " 

"  None,  sir." 

A  look  passed  between  the  officers  of  the  court. 

Another  witness.  Private  Quinn,  was  called, 
who  testified  to  much  the  same  occurrences,  and 
added  that  there  was  a  good  deal  of  noise  at  com- 
pany quarters  during  this  special  night ;  and  in 
the  morning  he  had  at  first  taken  but  little  notice, 
as  he  thought  the  row  was  of  the  same  kind  as 
those  of  the  night  before. 

"  What,"  inquired  the  Judge  Advocate,  "  was 
the  nature  of  what  you  term  '  the  row '  ?  " 

Private  Quinn  hesitated.  "Answer  my  ques- 
tion," said  the  Judge  Advocate  sternly. 

"Well,  sir,"  replied  Quinn,  "I  should  say  the 
whole  crowd  was  drunk." 

The  answer  was  so  unexpected  that  a  laugh 
went  round  the  table,  and  the  witness  was  dis- 
missed. Testimony  was  then  introduced  showing 
the  previous  good  conduct  of  the  accused,  and  the 
case  closed. 


A    COURT-MARTIAL.  265 

The  whole  case,  that  so  vitally  interested  poor 
Add,  did  not  cover  two  hours.  The  court  ad- 
journed for  dinner,  reserving  their  decision  until 
later. 

The  next  day  was  one  of  great  excitement,  for 
it  was  rumored  that  General  Hooker,  against 
whom  charges  had  been  preferred  in  Washington 
by  General  Burns ide,  was  about  to  be  placed  in 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  ;  and  noth- 
ing was  talked  of  during  the  day  but  the  rumor. 

The  next  day  I  learned  the  findings  in  the  case 
of  Sergeant  Key,  as  follows :  — 

"  Of  the  first  charge  and  specification,  viz., 
striking  his  superior  officer.  Not  guilty. 

"  Of  the  second  charge,  viz.,  disrespect  of  his 
superior,  Guilty." 

The  sentence  of  the  court  was  the  loss  of  one 
month's  pay,  and  that  Sergeant  Addison  Key  be 
reduced  to  the  ranks. 

Although  many,  especially  of  the  rank  and  file, 
felt  that  in  all  justice  Add  should  have  been  pro- 
moted instead  of  being  broken,  yet  on  all  sides 
considerable  wonder  was  expressed  at  the  findings 
of  the  court,  and  because  of   the  light  sentence. 

Add  was  very  much  chagrined;  but  to  my 
mind  he  had  every  reason  to  congratulate  himself, 
for  if  Sinclair  had  lied  a  little  more  consistently, 
he  would  have  undoubtedly  been  sentenced  to 
hard  labor  at  the  Rip  Raps  for  a  terra  of   years. 

Sergeant  Key  took  up  his  duties  as  a  private  ; 


266  JACK  ALDEN. 

but  from  that  day  he  seemed  to  have  lost  his  joy- 
ous, joking  spirit,  and  was  sobered  and  grave. 
He,  however,  performed  his  duty  strictly,  but  was 
apparently  broken,  not  only  in  rank,  but  in  spirit. 
I  reproved  him  for  his  demeanor,  when  he  replied, 
"  A  man  cannot  afford  any  longer  to  retain  a 
spirit  of  manhood  in  the  army." 

It  was  not  until  April  that  the  rumored  promo- 
tion of  General  Hooker  became  a  fact. 

The  army,  which  since  the  Fredericksburg  battle 
seemed  to  have  been  under  a  cloud  of  distrust  and 
gloom,  under  "  Fighting  Joe  "  soon  emerged  into 
the  sunshine  of  confidence  and  hope  again.  The 
change  would  have  appeared  astonishing,  had  not 
the  elastic  vitality  of  the  army  been  so  often 
proved. 

Under  his  administrative  reforms,  desertions 
ceased,  and  the  absent  ones,  amounting  in  all  to 
about  eighty  thousand  men,  nearly  all  returned  to 
duty;  but  it  remained  to  be  seen  whether  Gen- 
eral Hooker  Avould  come  forth  with  new  laurels 
from  an  ordeal  of  command  whence  no  man  up 
to  this  time  had  escaped  unscathed. 


THE  CHANCELLORSVILLE  CAMPAIGN.    267 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

THE   CHANCELLORSVILLE   CAMPAIGN, 

New  recruits  and  absentees  filled  up  the  com- 
pany, and  rounded  out  its  proportions  to  seventy- 
five  members,  all  told.  These  men  had  to  be 
drilled  and  disciplined.  An  army  is  anything  but 
a  place  for  ease  and  rest.  Even  its  ordinary  func- 
tions of  eating  and  sleeping  keep  it  in  perpetual 
motion,  and  it  requires  an  army  of  clerks  and 
workers  of  all  kinds.  Every  officer  and  soldier 
has  to  take  his  turn,  about  once  a  week,  as  eye  or 
guard  for  his  regiment  or  camp.  The  long  arms 
of  the  army,  its  pickets  and  vedettes,  are  stretched 
out  in  every  direction  like  those  of  a  devil-fish, 
feeling  for  danger  ;  a  great  interrogation  point  of 
inquiry  regarding  the  enemy.  All  in  turn  must 
take  a  share  in  this  work. 

Then  the  ordinary  work  of  camp  duties,  al- 
though not  hard,  is  constant.  In  the  morning 
there  is  reveille,  —  the  army  awakes,  dresses,  and 
answers  roll-call ;  then  there  is  breakfast-call,  sick- 
call,  drill,  then  the  dinner-call,  and  then  two  hours 
or  more  of  drill  again.  And  so  on  until  taps,  when 
all  lights  are  to  be  put  out,  and  all  sounds  that 
may  disturb  sleep  must  cease. 


268  JACK  A  Li)  EN. 

So  an  army  is  fed  and  clothed,  and  kept  in 
health  and  in  condition  for  its  work,  through  the 
toil  of  many  hands  and  the  thinking  of  many 
brains. 

An  army  is  incessantly  active,  even  when  not 
campaigning.  It  is  like  a  huge  machine  which 
must  be  lubricated  by  work,  and  often  by  hard 
work  too,  which  is  essential  to  toughen  its 
muscles,  and  to  keep  its  limbs  in  order  for  the 
quick  and  unusual  work  of  a  campaign.  It  loses 
its  strength  and  health  just  in  proportion  as  these 
conditions  are  neglected. 

Under  General  Hooker  a  new  inspiration  of 
hopefulness  and  interest  was  infused  into  the 
work,  and  all  seemed  to  participate  in  a  moral  ren- 
ovation which  gave  to  it  a  new  life  and  vigor. 

The  army  under  Hooker,  at  the  opening  of  the 
Chancellorsville  campaign,  numbered  one  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  men,  who  were  magnificently 
armed,  equipped,  and  disciplined,  and  were  in  the 
best  of  fighting  condition.  It  was  like  an  instru- 
ment in  perfect  tune,  but  which  gives  forth  har- 
monies only  in  answer  to  a  master  hand. 

It  remained  to  be  seen  whether  the  master  who 
had  attuned  it  to  its  highest  perfection  would  be 
competent  to  sweep  its  keys  with  triumphant 
notes  of  victory,  or  would  only  produce  the  dis- 
cords of  defeat. 

Early  in  April,  General  Blusterson  had  re- 
ported for  duty,  had  once  more  taken  command 


THE  CHANCELLORSVILLE  CAMPAIGN.    269 

of  his  brigade,  and  had  enthusiastically  begun  his 
preparations  for  the  spring  campaign.  The  first 
intimation  I  had  of  the  general's  return  was  the 
cheering  of  our  men  as  he  rode  down  the  company 
street.     I  went  out  and  greeted  him. 

"  You  look  as  good  as  new,  General !  "  I  said. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  he  replied.  "  A  little  rusty  for  want 
of  use,  that's  all ;  I  came  by  steamer  to  Acquia 
Creek,  and  rode  over  just  to  see  how  my  leg 
would  work  on  horseback.     It  goes  first-rate." 

The  men,  with  whom  the  general  was  very 
popular,  began  to  gather  around  him,  when  he 
said,  "  I  see  many  new  faces  here,  and  am  glad 
to  see  the  regiment  filled  up  again.  Everything 
looks  hopeful  and  bright  for  us  !  'A  long  pull,  a 
strong  pull,  and  a  pull  all  together,'  and  we  will 
finish  the  war  and  go  home." 

The  men  cheered,  the  general  saluted  in  ac- 
knowledgment ;  and  after  inviting  me  to  come  to 
his  quarters  he  rode  away. 

In  the  afternoon  I  visited  his  quarters,  and 
found  him  busy  tinkering  his  patent  leg,  fixing 
some  soft  leather  where  it  had  chafed  his  wound 
in  riding. 

"  There !  "  said  the  general,  adjusting  his  trou- 
sers over  the  artificial  leg,  and  puckering  his 
mouth  into  a  smile,  "  when  you  can  drive  tacks 
into  yourself  like  that,  you've  reached  perfec- 
tion, and  bullets  won't  hurt  you  either.  Science, 
my   boy,"  said  the   general,   walking   around    his 


270  JACK  ALDEN. 

quarters,  with  scarcely  a  perceptible  limp,  "has 
reached  that  point  where  a  man  can  lose  a  leg  and 
not  make  a  fuss  over  it.  I'm  not  sure  but  a  good 
artificial  leg  is  an  improvement  over  n  natural 
one  ;  a  man's  corns  don't  hurt  him,  sir." 

It  seemed  to  detract  from  the  force  of  this  state- 
ment that  he  shortly  afterwards  complained  of 
cramps  in  the  toes  of  his  amputated  foot. 

The  general  complimented  me  on  what  he  was 
pleased  to  term  my  well-won  promotion. 

"  If  any  of  us  live  to  get  out  of  this  shindy 
alive,"  said  he  gravely,  "  it  will  sound  well  to  be 
called  '  captain  '  or  '  general.'  It  is  worth  some- 
thing to  be  at  nineteen  a  captain  in  active  service, 
as  you  are.  I'm  growing  old,  however.  Such 
titles  ought  to  be  made  hereditary."  Then  smil- 
ing in  his  humorous  manner,  he  said,  "  It  wouldn't 
do  me  any  good,  though.  I've  got  no  chick  nor 
child  but  my  daughter  Emily  to  leave  it  to.  Don't 
think  she'd  appreciate  it." 

"  I've  never  heard  you  speak  of  your  family  be- 
fore," I  said,  "and  I  didn't  know  that  you  had 
any." 

The  general's  face  clouded  as  if  with  painful 
thoughts ;  but  finally  smiling,  he  said,  "  My  daugh- 
ter Emily  is  at  a  boarding-school.  She  is  a  dif- 
ferent kind  of  a  feller  from  her  father."  Then 
after  a  gloomy  silence  he  added,  "  I  had  a  son  ;  he 
was  older  than  Emily  —  about  your  age.  He's 
dead,   and  I've  always  thought  you   looked  like 


THE  CHANCELLORSVILLE  CAMPAIGN.    271 

him,  Alden.  I  sent  him  to  college.  He  was  a 
bright  boy,  but  the  accursed  drink  habit  got  hold 
of  him."  And  the  general  buried  his  face  in  his 
hands  as  if  at  painful  remembrances. 

I  understood  now  the  interest  he  seemed  to  have 
taken  in  me  from  our  first  acquaintance. 

In  the  course  of  conversation  the  general  said  he 
had  called  on  General  Hooker  during  the  day,  and 
expressed  great  enthusiasm  over  the  prospects  of 
the  coming  campaign. 

"We've  got  a  commander  now,"  said  the  gen- 
eral, "that's  going  to  wake  up  them  Johnnies!" 

"What,"  I  inquired,  "is  he  waiting  for?" 

"Well,  he  wants  settled  weather,  and  just  a 
trifle  more  information  about  the  enemy." 

Before  leaving  the  general,  I  spoke  of  Add 
Key's  degradation,  and  mentioned  his  many  manly 
characteristics.  "  It's  a  shame,"  I  said,  "  to  de- 
grade one  of  the  best  non-commissioned  officers 
in  the  regiment !  " 

The  general  looked  up  frowning,  as  if  to  re- 
prove me,  but  only  said  after  a  moment,  with  an 
abstracted  look,  "  He's  a  man,  you  say,  thoroughly 
to  be  trusted,  and  brave  ?  Well,  send  him  to  me. 
I'll  see  what  I  can  do  for  him.  Order  him  to  re- 
port at  once." 

Add  reported  at  the  general's  quarters  that  fore- 
noon. The  next  morning  he  did  not  answer  at 
roll-call,  and  I  supposed  he  had  reported  for  some 
duty  to  General  Blusterson. 


272  JACK  ALDEN. 

During  the  day  I  learned  from  the  general  that 
he  had  offered  Key  a  position  as  his  orderly,  but 
that  Key  had  respectfully  declined  the  place. 

"  Out  of  regard  for  you,  I  did  all  I  could  for 
him,"  said  the  general,  and  then  hesitated,  as  if 
inclined  to  say  something  more,  which  I  inter- 
preted to  be  some  word  of  reproof  that  he  with- 
lield  out  of  consideration  for  my  feelings. 

"  Inspection  to-morrow  !  Have  everything  in 
prime  order,  captain  !  "  said  the  general.  "  We 
are  likely  to  move  now  at  any  time." 

Two  days  after  it  was  reported  around  camp 
that  private  Key  had  deserted  to  the  enemy.  I 
learned  later  that  he  had  been  seen  down  by  the 
river  in  the  evening;  that  he  had  shoved  off  from 
shore,  and  had  crossed  the  river  in  a  small  boat; 
had  been  fired  upon,  but  was  seen  to  reach  the 
opposite  shore  safely. 

This  upset  me,  for  I  had  believed  Add  to  be 
thoroughly  patriotic  and  a  man  of  high  principle. 
The  most  galling  part  was  that  Lieutenant  Sin- 
clair, with  exultant  looks,  remarked,  "  Captain, 
I'm  sorry  your  friend  has  turned  out  so  badly." 

"  Yes,"  I  said  angrily  ;  "  one  bad  officer  spoils  a 
great  many  good  men." 

I  was  sore  at  heart ;  for,  although  by  reason  of 
good  luck  I  was  Add's  superior  in  rank,  yet  in 
point  of  soldierly  qualities,  experience,  and  cour- 
age, I  recognized  Add  as  really  superior  to  many 
higher  in  rank  than  myself. 


THE  CHANCELLORSVILLE  CAMPAIGN.    273 

It  is  very  sad  to  lose  confidence  in  the  manli- 
ness of  a  friend;  but  I  felt  that  Add,  naturally 
brave  and  patriotic,  had,  by  injustice,  been  driven 
to  betray  not  only  his  country,  but  his  own  manly 
instincts. 

Association  with  Sinclair  was  very  distasteful 
to  me ;  and  when  the  next  day  the  general  offered 
me  a  position  for  a  time  on  his  staff,  I  accepted, 
thankful  to  get  away  from  my  company. 

Other  scenes  soon  claimed  not  only  my  atten- 
tion, but  that  of  the  army  and  of  the  country;  for 
the  campaign  of  1863  had  opened. 

On  the  26th  of  April  we  broke  camp,  and  on 
the  27th  our  troops  were  moving  in  seeming  con- 
fusion on  all  the  roads. 

At  noon  I  was  finely  mounted,  and  on  duty 
with  General  Blusterson.  Our  brigade  was  now 
attached  to  the  Second  Army  Corps  under  Gen- 
eral Couch.  The  roads  were  good,  and  the  men 
were  in  fine  spirits ;  and,  although  marching  rap- 
idly. General  Blusterson  halted  the  men  for  fre- 
quent rests. 

"What,"  I  inquired  during  one  of  these  in- 
tervals, "  are  we  expected  to  do  ?  " 

"  We  are  expected  to  march,"  said  the  general, 
"to  turn  the  flank  of  the  enemy.  The  two  corps 
under  Sedgwick,  left  behind,  will  cross  the  river 
as  if  to  force  Lee's  position.  This  will  deceive 
the  enemy  as  to  the  army's  real  intention.  It  is 
well  understood  that  Lee  has  an  intrenched  line 


274  JACK  ALDEN. 

from  Skenker's  Creek,  below  Fredericksburg,  to 
United  States  Ford,  twenty  miles  above,  on  the 
river.  Hooker  is  too  long-headed  to  blunder  in 
making  a  direct  attack;  he  is  going  to  turn  Lee's 
left  flank." 

Such,  in  reality,  was  General  Hooker's  plan. 
He  had  set  in  motion  tlie  Fifth,  Eleventh,  and 
Twelfth  Corps  on  Monday,  the  27th ;  and  these 
during  the  night  of  the  28th,  and  the  next  morn- 
ing, had  reached  and  made  the  passage  of  the  Rap- 
pahannock at  Kelley's  Ford.  These  three  corps, 
divided  in  two  columns,  crossed  the  Rapidan  at 
Germania  and  Ely's  Fords  ;  then  rapidly  marched 
to  Chancellorsville. 

Our  corps,  meanwhile,  reached  the  Rappahan- 
nock at  Kelley's  Ford,  where  it  was  directed  to 
remain  until  the  turning  column  mentioned,  mov- 
ing down  the  south  banks  of  the  Rappahannock, 
uncovered  the  United  States  Ford.  This  was  ac- 
complished the  moment  the  turning-forces  had 
crossed  the  Rapidan.  The  same  afternoon  we 
threw  a  boat  bridge  across  the  Rappahannock,  and 
arrived  at  Chancellorsville  on  the  30th,  at  about 
the  same  that  time  the  other  corps  arrived.  The 
rank  and  file  were  in  great  glee  ;  for  they  under- 
stood the  importance  of  the  march,  and  on  all 
sides  were  heard  to  say  that  "  Pop  Hooker " 
used  their  legs  instead  of  their  arms  to  beat  the 
rebs. 

§0  far  the  niovement  was  a  rem^irkable  success, 


THE  CHANCELLORSVTLLE  CAMPAIGN.    275 

only  rivalled  in  military  annals  by  Prince  Eugene's 
famous  passage  of  the  Adige. 

The  strategy  of  the  movement  almost  justified 
Hooker's  braggadocio  proclamation  issued  at  the 
time,  in  which  he  announced  that  "  the  enemy 
must  either  ingloriously  fly,  or  come  out  from  be- 
hind his  defences,  and  give  us  battle  on  our  own 
ground,  where  certain  destruction  awaits  him." 

General  Blusterson,  with  his  map  before  him, 
read  the  proclamation  with  a  shake  of  his  head 
and  the  humorous  pucker  of  his  lips  with  which 
we  are  familiar,  saying,  "  Hooker  had  better 
wait  until  he  gets  out  of  the  woods  before  he 
crows." 

At  the  same  time  he  pointed  out  on  the  map 
the  fact  that  we  had  already  laid  hold  of  one  of 
the  only  two  lines  of  retreat  left  open  to  Lee 
(that  of  Gordonsville)  ;  and  that  we  were  threaten- 
ing the  remaining  one  (that  by  waj^  of  Richmond), 
which,  if  chosen  for  retreat,  would  bring  the  force 
at  Chancellorsville  on  his  flank,  and  the  two  corps 
under  Sedgwick  on  his  rear. 

"Hooker,"  said  the  general,  "has  got  to  look 
out,  or  Lee  will  squirm  out  of  it,  and  get  a  twist 
on  him !  " 

The  sequel  proved  that  Blusterson's  fears  were 
well  grounded ;  for  Lee,  learning  that  Sedgwick's 
threats  to  attack  Fredericksburg  were  only  a  mask 
to  conceal  the  attack  on  his  flank,  gathered  up  his 
forces,  and,  leaving  behind  him  only  a  guard  for 


276  JACK  ALDEN. 

his  intrenchments  at  Fredericksburg,  hurried  for- 
ward to  give  battle. 

The  clearing  at  Chancellorsville  was  only  ten 
miles  west  from  Fredericksburg.  It  was  a  large 
field,  in  the  midst  of  which  stood  the  Chancellor 
House,  from  which  the  place  takes  its  name. 

This  field  is  hemmed  in  on  all  sides  by  a  wilder- 
ness of  thickets,  in  which  manceuvring  is  impos- 
sible ;  but  towards  Fredericksburg  there  is  open 
country,  affording  a  fine  field  for  all  arms.  On 
the  morning  of  May  1st  an  onward  movement  was 
made,  to  take  up  a  line  of  battle  two  or  three 
miles  towards  Fredericksburg,  preparatory  to  an 
advance. 

While  in  the  midst  of  this  preparatory  move- 
ment, and  just  as  Banks's  Ford,  by  a  movement  of 
a  column  down  the  river  road,  had  been  practi- 
cally uncovered  (thus  shortening  our  communica- 
tion with  Sedgwick  by  twelve  miles),  orders  were 
received  to  fall  back  to  Chancellorsville  clearing. 

Here,  shut  up  in  the  midst  of  brambles  and 
thickets,  and  refusing  to  avail  himself  of  the  ad- 
vantage of  an  aggressive  movement,  Hooker, 
notwithstanding  the  protests  of  his  generals,  de- 
termined to  fight  a  defensive  battle. 


THE  HAZARD  OF  BATTLE.  277 


CHAPTER    XXVr 

THE   HAZARD   OF   BATTLE. 

In  the  advance  towards  Fredericksburg  our 
brigade  had  formed  a  part  of  the  vanguard.  This 
portion  of  the  line  had  broken  shamefully  when  in 
first  contact  with  the  enemy.  When  we  arrived 
at  the  Chancellorsville  clearing,  General  Bluster- 
son,  for  this  and  other  reasons,  was  not  in  his 
usual  good-humor. 

''Captain,"  said  the  general,  dismounting,  and 
limping  to  a  log,  where  he  sat  down,  "I  don't 
understand  it!     The  men   acted  like   sheep!" 

I  did  not  reply  ;  for  I  had  learned  that  it  was 
my  own  company  that  had  first  broken,  and  I  had 
heard  that  it  was  owing  to  a  blunder,  or  worse,  — 
the  cowardice  of  Lieutenant  Sinclair. 

"  Give  my  compliments  to  the  colonel,"  said  the 
general,  "  and  ask  him  to  come  here."  Then  in  an 
undertone,  "  I  want  to  know  what  the  matter  is." 

The  colonel  reported ;  and  in  course  of  his  ex- 
planation it  came  out  that  the  break  in  our  lines 
was  not  the  fault  of  our  men,  but  was  caused 
by  an  order  to  fall  back  given  to  my  company  by 
Lieutenant  Sinclair. 


278  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  How  came  he  to  give  such  an  order  ?  "  asked 
General  Blusterson,  his  square  jaw  closing  with 
a  snap.     "  Have  him  sent  to  me." 

"Sinclair  was  scared,  I  guess,"  said  the  colonel. 
"  The  other  officers  say  he  gave  the  order,  and 
went  back  himself  so  fast  that  when  I  rode  up 
he  was  not  with  his  company.  Acting  Lieutenant 
Standish  straightened  up  the  line.  He's  one  of 
the  chaps  that  ain't  afraid  of  bullets.  The  com- 
pany ain't  to  blame,  General!" 

"  Humph  !  "  growled  the  general,  with  a  pucker 
of  his  lips,  "  I  guess  Sinclair  had  better  resign. 
Such  men  ain't  of  any  use  to  us.  But  he's  got 
some  influential  backers.  I'm  glad.  Colonel,  to 
know  it  ain't  the  fault  of  your  regiment." 

In  closing  the  conversation,  the  colonel  said, 
nodding  towards  me,  "  It  wouldn't  have  oc- 
curred. General,  if  Ca^Dtain  Alden  had  been  in 
command,"  and  then  rode  away. 

The  brigade  had  stacked  arms,  kindled  fires, 
and  soon  the  smell  of  fragrant  coffee  and  tobacco 
mingled  with  the  odor  of  the  pine  woods.  The 
men  lounged  in  line,  laughing  and  talking,  smok- 
ing and  eating,  and  an  occasional  discordant  bray 
of  a  picturesque  pack-mule  furnished  a  minor  key 
to  the  refrain  of  merry  voices. 

The  general  had  had  his  coffee  and  supper,  but 
had  not  recovered  his  good  nature.  He  had  be- 
gun gloomily  to  tinker  at  his  artificial  leg.  The 
air  was  quite   cool   as   the   sun   declined.     After 


THE  HAZARD   OF  BATTLE.  279 

feeding  my  horse,  I  had  thrown  myself  on  the 
ground  before  the  fire,  and  was  enjoying  the  bus- 
tling scene  around  me.  "  Can  I  help  you.  Gen- 
eral ?  "  I  asked.  Then,  as  he  only  grunted  in 
reply,  I  added,  lazily  yawning,  "  It's  a  nice 
evening ;  a  little  cool  after  so  hot  a  day,  but  we've 
got  a  good  fire,  and  plenty  of  wood  to  keep  it  up." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  general,  with  a  queer  pucker  at 
his  lips ;  "  too  much  wood,  Alden,  too  much  !  " 

"Too  much  in  your  artificial  leg?"  I  asked, 
"  or  too  much  on  the  fire  ?  " 

"  Too  much  all  around,"  said  he,  making  a  mo- 
tion with  his  hand  which  indicated  the  Chancel- 
lorsville  clearing.  "  This  clearing  isn't  over  three 
hundred  yards  wide ;  it's  too  cramped  to  use 
our  men  in.  It's  no  place  for  an  army  to  be  shut 
up  in  !  We  haven't  got  any  cavalry  to  feel  out 
the  enemy  with.  We  don't  know  what  they  are 
up  to  at  this  moment.  They'll  take  advantage  of 
us  ;  they  are  just  mean  enough  to  steal  acorns  from 
a  blind  pig !  " 

"  We  are  fortified.  General,"  I  said  ;  "  they  can't 
gobble  your  brigade  here  !  " 

The  general  shook  his  head,  and  with  another 
pucker  of  his  lips  said,  in  an  undertone,  "They 
have  got  too  much  sense  to  attack  us  here ;  that 
yelling  and  firing  is  all  a  blind.  I  shouldn't  wonder 
if  they  were  on  our  flank  before  morning."  I  knew 
enough  of  m}^  general  to  be  sure  that  if  he  thought 
there  was  anything  very  serious  in  the  situation, 


280  JACK  ALDEN. 

he  would  not  be  cross,  but  the  reverse,  very  cheer- 
ful, for  he  delighted  in  danger ;  and  I  mistrusted 
that  there  was  not  much  prospect  of  a  fight.  It 
turned  out,  however,  that  the  Confederates  were 
at  that  moment  moving  to  do  just  what  the  general 
had  intimated. 

Our  position  in  front  was  practically  unassail- 
able. Our  right  flank,  however,  on  the  turnpike 
near  Dowdall's  tavern,  was,  in  military  parlance, 
"  in  the  air,"  and  poorly  protected.  Only  two 
regiments  were  faced  on  its  flank,  and  two  green 
companies  thrown  out  for  its  outposts. 

The  able  Confederate  commander  understood 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  our  position. 
He  knew  that  really  he  was  in  a  perilous  posi- 
tion. Stuart,  his  vigilant  and  alert  cavahy  leader, 
had  brought  word  of  the  exposed  position  of  our 
right  flank;  and  when  Jackson  proposed  to  make 
a  great  march  with  twenty- three  thousand  men, 
to  strike  and  overwhelm  this  flank,  Lee  consented, 
as  it  was  about  the  only  movement  that  gave 
promise  of  success  against  our  position. 

The  next  morning  at  nine  o'clock  Hooker,  as 
if  anticipating  this  movement,  gave  orders  to 
Howard,  who  was  in  command  of  our  right  wing, 
to  strengthen  his  flank,  and  to  advance  his  pickets 
for  observation,  as  the  enemy  were  seen  moving 
in  his  direction. 

But  in  reality  neither  Hooker  nor  Howard 
believed  for  a  moment  that  the  glimpses  of  Jack- 


THE  HAZARD  OF  BATTLE.  281 

son's  movement  that  had  been  reported,  were 
anytliing  but  a  prelude  to  a  retreat  of  the  Confed- 
erate forces. 

It  was  chilly  and  raw,  and  I  did  not  sleep  well ; 
so  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  I  roused 
myself,  fed  and  saddled  my  horse,  and  otherwise 
prepared  myself  in  anticipation  of  an  early  move 
of  the  enemy. 

The  camp  was  not  astir.  The  monotonous  song 
of  the  whip-poor-will,  the  crackling  of  the  replen- 
ished camp-fires,  the  champing  of  our  horses  and 
mules,  and  the  tramp  of  our  camp  sentinels,  were 
the  only  sounds  that  could  be  heard  in  the  depths 
of  this  tangled  forest.  Around  me  lay  thousands 
of  our  men  wrapped  in  their  blankets,  sleeping. 

The  red  flush  of  dawn  in  the  east  soon  heralded 
the  approach  of  another  fine  day.  The  brigade 
was  astir  with  active  life  once  more,  the  men 
preparing  their  breakfast  and  answering  to  roll- 
call. 

At  seven  o'clock  the  enemy  began  a  cannonade 
as  if  to  attack.  Occasionally  during  the  forenoon 
the  yell  of  men  and  the  explosion  of  musketry 
and  artillery  kept  up  the  expectation  that  a  fight 
might  soon  be  upon  us  at  this  point. 

The  enemy  continued  to  keep  up  their  demon- 
strations, as  if  feeling  our  position,  for  a  general 
rush  en  masse  upon  our  barricaded  lines  at  Chan- 
cellorsville. 

In  the  afternoon  we  were  ordered  to  the  risfht 


282  JACK  ALDEN. 

about  half  a  mile,  and  here  the  brigade  waited 
in  line. 

It  had  been  unusually  quiet,  when  just  before 
sundown  a  faint  but  ominous  sound  was  heard 
on  our  extreme  right.  It  was  the  long  crackle 
of  musketry,  yells,  and  every  indication  of  a 
conflict.     Our  right  wing  had  been  attacked. 

Jackson  had  burst  upon  it  with  resistless  im- 
petuosity, taking  its  defences  in  reverse,  and  driv- 
ing our  men  in  upon  one  another,  so  that  they 
could  not  fight.  The  dispositions  made  to  resist 
such  an  attack  were  inadequate.  The  whole 
Eleventh  Corps  was  soon  in  utter  rout  and  con- 
fusion, running  into  and  overturning  the  divisions 
which  were  formed  to  resist  the  enemy.  A  whirl- 
wind of  men  and  artillery  and  wagons  swept  down 
on  all  the  roads  towards  Chancellorsville,  in  direst 
confusion  and  disorder. 

It  was  seven  o'clock,  and  in  the  dusk  of  night- 
fall, when  we  went  forward  to  form  a  new  line. 

"Nothing  but  a  little  panic;  we'll  get  'em  yet!  " 
said  General  Blusterson  cheerfully.  "They  won't 
have  anything  to  brag  of  soon !  " 

All  the  first  part  of  the  night  there  was  fight- 
ing by  moonlight  in  the  woods ;  and  it  was  not 
until  long  past  midnight  that  silence  and  rest 
succeeded. 

Sunday  morning  dawned.  We  still  held  the 
point  where  the  roads  converged,  near  Chancellors- 
ville, and  had  seventy-four  thousand  men  posted 


"  Two  ragged  prisoners  under  the  persuasive  influence 
of  my  revolver." 


-Page  283. 


THE   HAZARD   OF  BATTLE.  283 

between  the  severed  wings  of  the  Confederate 
army.  Here  it  seemed  we  might,  with  both  these 
roads  for  a  pivot,  have  delivered  some  terrible 
blows  upon  one  or  the  other  wing  of  our  divided 
foes.  But  Hooker  had  lost  his  head,  and  was  a 
mere  nonentity  in  tlie  fight  thereafter.  The  se- 
quel proved  that  Hooker,  and  not  the  Union 
army,  was  defeated. 

From  the  first  blow  that  fell  upon  us  his  facul- 
ties seemed  paralyzed. 

Our  brigade  was  thrown  forward  to  the  right. 
Here  we  captured  some  prisoners,  and  learned 
that  General  Jackson  of  the  Confederate  army 
was  wounded  in  the  attack  on  the  night  previous. 
The  enemy  opened  fire  upon  our  position,  enfilad- 
ing our  line  with  their  artillery,  while  their  in- 
fantry attacked  us  in  front.  The  firing  was  so 
destructive  that  General  Blusterson  was  ordered 
to  fall  back  nearer  the  Chancellorsville  clearing, 
which  if  the  enemy  reached  in  its  then  crowded 
condition,  meant  disaster  to  our  whole  army. 

I,  with  another  aid,  was  ordered  to  commu- 
nicate this  command  to  the  brigade.  I  went  to 
the  left,  and  gave  the  orders  to  the  colonels,  and 
helped  execute  them,  and  then  began  picking  up 
prisoners  and  sending  them  to  the  rear  under  the 
escort  of  slightly  wounded  men.  I  was  march- 
ing two  ragged  prisoners  under  the  persuasive  in- 
fluence of  my  revolver,  to  report  with  them  to 
General  Blusterson,  when  I  broke  through  a  dense 


284  JACK  ALDEN. 

thicket,  and  came  upon  a  line  of  ragged  gray  and 
butternut  tatterdemalions. 

"I  reckon,"  said  one  of  my  prisoners,  "that 
things  is  changed  a  little,  Captain !  " 

They  were.  An  officer  stepped  out  of  the  line. 
I  reversed  my  revolver,  and  presented  the  butt 
instead  of  the  muzzle  to  this  officer,  who  politely 
requested  me  to  deliver  my  arms  and  equipments 
to  him.  So  at  his  earnest  request  I  unstrapped 
my  sword-belt,  and  reluctantly  turned  it  over. 

As  the  line  of  ragged  Confederates  did  not  seem 
to  regard  themselves  as  my  prisoners,  and  as  I 
was  not  naturally  contentious,  I  didn't  insist  upon 
their  surrender  to  me.  It  naturally  followed  that 
in  the  irrepressible  conflict  of  arms  one  or  the  other 
had  to  jdeld,  so,  as  I  believed  in  the  rule  of  majori- 
ties, I  became  a  prisoner  of  war. 


A    SOUTHERN  POINT  OF   VIEW.  285 


CHAPTER   XXVI. 

A   SOUTHERN   POINT    OF   VIEW. 

So  quick  had  been  my  transition  from  the  role 
of  picking  up  grayback  prisoners,  to  being  a  picked- 
up  Yankee  captive  myself,  that  I  could  scarcely 
realize  that  I  was  a  prisoner  of  war. 

I  was  conducted  to  the  rear  without  ceremony, 
under  guard  of  a  Confederate,  who  had  but  one 
suspender  for  his  dilapidated  trousers,  and  no  shirt 
to  hansf  out  at  the  hole  which  ventilated  them  at 
the  rear. 

The  Confederate  privates,  as  well  as  many  offi- 
cers I  met,  were  an  ill-dressed,  ragged  set  of  vaga- 
bonds ;  but  they  had  beaten  us  in  a  fair  fight,  with 
inferior  equipments  and  numbers,  and  I  could 
not  withhold  my  admiration  for  their  unflinching 
bravery. 

The  comparative  quiet  of  the  fields  and  woods 
around  me,  after  the  rage  of  battle  from  which  I 
had  emerged,  impressed  me  strangely.  The  calm 
of  which  I  speak  was  one  of  contrast,  rather  than 
one  of  reality. 

As  we  went  on  through  the  wood  and  field, 
around   us  could  be  seen  the  dead  and  wounded 


286  JACK  ALDEN. 

of  both  armies.  There  was  the  appealing  look  or 
gesture  of  our  own  wounded,  or  a  muttered  curse 
from  an  injured  foe,  as  I  passed ;  or  mangled  horses 
gave  almost  human-like  cries,  and  struggled  in 
their  harnesses,  to  remind  me  that  over  this  field 
had  swept  "the  battle  breath  of  hell." 

I  was  soon  beyond  these  nearer  evidences  of 
conflict ;  yet  still  in  the  clearings,  under  the  shade 
of  large  trees,  there  were  groups  where  the  Con- 
federate surgeons  were  engaged  in  their  bloody 
but  merciful  work. 

We  finally  came  to  an  open  space,  about  two 
miles  in  the  rear  of  the  battle-field,  where  were 
about  a  thousand  or  more  unfortunate  captive 
Federals. 

"A  pretty  good  crap  o'  Yanks,"  said  my  guard. 
I  gave  him,  for  he  had  in  the  main  been  respectful, 
a  small  piece  of  silver,  at  which  his  ragged  com- 
rades gathered  around  him,  and  it  was  passed 
from  hand  to  hand  as  a  curiosity.  I  noticed  that 
their  horses  were  half-starved,  and  in  some  cases 
were  tied  to  their  wagons  with  strips  of  raw  hide 
or  rope ;  that  their  supply  and  ammunition  trains 
looked  as  if  they  had  been  crippled  by  an  attack 
of  old  age,  or  a  cyclone  of  poverty. 

I  confess  to  humiliation  that  under  all  these 
adverse  circumstances  they  had  fairly  beaten  us. 
I  was  satisfied  that,  man  for  man,  our  soldiers 
were  superior  to  those  of  the  enemy.  In  what, 
then,  consisted  the  superiority  of  their  army? 


A   SOUTHERN  POINT  OF  VIEW.  287 

They  believed  in  their  cause ;  they  had  the 
morale  of  victory  on  their  side,  and  a  distinctive 
class  for  officers,  who  had  learned  the  lessons  of 
government  of  masses  of  men  on  plantations,  a 
government  which  was  similar  to  that  of  mill  tar}' 
control. 

Our  men  were  all  of  the  same  station, — citi- 
zens of  an  average  class. 

Before  I  turned  my  toes  towards  Richmond,  I 
was  permitted  to  write  letters  to  my  friends.  I 
had  written  to  them  while  on  our  march  to  Chan- 
cellorsville,  that  I  expected  to  be  at  Richmond  in 
the  following  month;  and  here  I  was,  en  route, 
sure  enough. 

I  wrote  to  General  Blusterson  a  short  note,  ex- 
plaining my  capture,  and  saying  I  should  probably 
be  detained  on  business  of  such  a  nature  that  it 
would  make  it  impossible  for  me  to  serve  on  his 
staff  during  the  remainder  of  the  campaign. 

Among  the  prisoners  of  war  I  found  one  or  two 
acquaintances,  and  among  them  was  Sergeant 
Osgood  of  my  own  company.  He  shook  hands 
with  me  with  a  grim  smile,  and  then  gesturing 
towards  one  of  the  guards,  dressed  much  better 
than  his  comrades,  said,  "  See  any  one  you  know 
out  there.  Captain  ?  " 

I  looked  in  the  direction  in  which  he  pointed, 
and  saw  a  Confederate  sergeant  major  taking  the 
names  of  the  prisoners.  I  was  about  to  turn  away 
when  I  recognized  him.     It  was  Add  ! 


288  JACK  ALDEN. 

I  was  never  so  heartsick  in  my  life,  and,  turning 
my  back  on  him,  walked  to  another  part  of  the 
gathering.  I  was  angered  as  well  as  sorrowful. 
He  had  been  grievously  sinned  against ;  but  this 
did  not  justify  him  in  being  a  traitor  to  his  coun- 
try, and  in  fighting  against  his  own  comrades. 

As  I  reflected,  it  seemed  so  inconsistent  with 
Add's  character,  that  I  could  not  bring  myself 
to  believe,  even  though  my  own  senses  bore  tes- 
timony to  the  fact,  that  he  had  willingly  taken 
arms  against  the  old  flag. 

I  turned  and  walked  towards  a  group  where  Add 
stood  joking  and  laughing  with  his  new  comrades, 
in  apparent  unconcern.  I  approached  the  group, 
and  heard  him  telling  an  incident  of  the  battle, 
which  he  was  setting  forth  with  grotesque  humor, 
to  the  great  amusement  of  his  listeners.  Once  his 
eyes  met  mine,  and  I  was  sure  he  recognized  me. 
Was  it  possible  he  was  so  lost  to  shame  that  he 
could  still  look  me  in  the  face? 

The  list  was  soon  made,  and  we  were  marched 
ten  miles  to  Spottsylvania  Court-House.  I  had  no 
rations ;  the  day  was  hot,  and  I  sorely  missed  my 
horse  for  an  underpinning.  I  was  accustomed  to 
marching,  however,  and  had  but  little  to  encumber 
me,  not  even  a  blanket. 

At  Spottsylvania  we  were  subject  to  the  annoy- 
ance of  a  search.  One  of  the  men  who  aided  in 
this  search  was  Add.  I  stood,  almost  unable  to 
control  my  anger  against  him,  as  he  approached. 


We  were  marched  through  the  streets  to  Libby." 
—  Page  289. 


A   SOUTHERN  POINT  OF   VIEW.  289 

and  in  a  loud  tone  said,  "  Turn  your  pockets 
wrong  side  out!"  Then  with  his  head  close  to 
mine,  said  in  so  low  a  tone  that  I  could  scarcely 
hear,  "Don't  trust  appearances  !  Don't  doubt  me. 
Jack!  If  you  have  money  they'd  take  it  from 
you  in  Richmond.  Turn  it  over  to  me,  and  I  will 
see  that  you  get  it  there." 

He  thrust  his  hand  into  my  breast  pocket,  as  if 
to  search  it,  and  I  heard  the  rustle  of  a  paper. 

My  heart  was  lighter  from  that  moment.  When 
embarked  on  the  cars  at  Guiney's  Station,  I  felt 
in  my  pocket,  and  found  on  a  piece  of  crumpled 
paper  these  words,  "  I  am  here  under  conditions 
that  you  yourself  would  approve  if  you  knew 
them  ;  I  will  see  you  again  in  Richmond  if  possi- 
ble. There  is  no  chance  of  escape  to  our  lines  now, 
and  I  have  "  —  Here  the  communication  stopped 
abruptly,  as  if  he  had  been  interrupted  in  writing. 

It  was  cloudy  all  that  afternoon,  and  at  dark  it 
began  to  rain. 

I  was  soaking  wet,  when  at  twelve  o'clock  at 
night  we  were  embarked  on  the  box  cars,  on  which 
we  remained  until  morning,  when,  at  about  nine 
o'clock,  the  train  started. 

We  arrived  in  Richmond,  and  were  marched 
through  the  streets  to  Libby,  where  we  were 
halted  while  another  search  of  our  persons  was 
made.  Paper,  pencils,  pens,  and  even  a  small 
book  of  photographs  of  friends,  were  taken  from 
me.     A  young,  profane,  strutting,  important  Con- 


290  JACK  ALDEN. 

federate  in  white  trousers,  named  Ross,  informed  me 
that  the  articles  were  "  contraband  of  war,"  an  ex- 
pression which  he  constantly  mingled  with  his  pro- 
fanity, as  if  both  were  needful  to  his  importance. 

After  this  search  we  were  escorted  up  three 
flights  of  stairs  into  a  room  about  one  hundred  by 
fifty  feet  in  size,  filled  witli  Union  officers  lying 
upon  rude  bunks,  and  in  their  blankets  upon  the 
floor. 

We  were  greeted  with  the  exclamation,  "  More 
Yanks!"  "Fresh  fish!."  '' More  Yanks !"  and 
then  they  crowded  around  us  to  inquire  the  news 
from  the  army. 

I  soon  found  friends,  and  with  four  other  offi- 
cers formed  a  mess,  which  was  henceforth  known 
as  Mess  18. 

The  room  was  clean,  and  quite  airy.  We  got 
half  a  loaf  of  good  wheaten  bread,  and  about  a 
quarter  of  a  pound  of  bacon,  for  a  day's  rations; 
and  such  of  us  as  had  money  were  permitted  to 
buy  sugar,  eggs,  and  other  food,  through  a  Con- 
federate sergeant  who  came  in  each  day.  Sugar 
was  a  dollar  and  fifty  cents  a  pound,  and  potatoes 
a  dollar  and  fifty  cents  a  dozen. 

I  took  turns  with  others  of  my  mess  in  cook- 
ing at  an  old  rusty  stove  on  the  lower  floor,  and 
sorely  missed  the  services  of  Roily -Pooly;  for  with 
all  his  shortcomings  he  could  cook.  Thus  it  was 
that  I  settled  down  to  the  common  lot  of  a 
prisoner  of  war  to  the  Southern  Confederacy. 


A    SOUTHERN  POINT  OF   VIEW.  291 

I  had  been  in  prison  three  weeks,  and  had  seen 
and  lieard  nothing  from  Add,  when  one  day  an  old 
darky  prisoner,  whom  we  called  the  General,  and 
whose  common  talk  was  of  a  muddled,  growling, 
Copperhead  kind,  came  in  and  placed  an  envelope 
in  my  hand,  containing  my  money,  and  turned 
away  without  an  explanation. 

Among  the  bills  was  a  note,  saying,  "  This  is  the 
first  time  I've  had  a  chance  to  communicate.  This 
old  darky  can  be  trusted.  There  is  going  to  be 
an  exchange  of  officers  soon ;  be  ready  for  it." 
There  was  no  name  signed  ;  but  I  knew  the  hand- 
writing to  be  that  of  Add. 

About  the  15th  of  May  the  exchange  or  parole 
began.  We  were  awakened  at  eleven  o'clock  at 
night,  and  told  that  we  were  to  be  paroled  and 
marched  to  City  Point  at  three  o'clock  A.  m. 
When  about  a  hundred  or  more  had  crowded 
out,  the  prison  door  was  slammed  in  our  faces 
with  the  explanation,  "  No  more  to  go  to-day," 
uttered  by  our  jailers.  The  next  day,  when  the 
work  of  paroling  was  resumed,  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  crowding,  which,  unfortunately  for  me,  I 
did  not  feel  to  be  needful,  and  the  door  was  again 
slammed,  and  the  explanation,  "  No  more  to  be 
paroled,"  greeted  my  surprised  ears. 

Had  I  known  the  sequel  I  should  have  been 
more  discouraged  than  I  then  was,  and  even  more 
dissatisfied  with  myself  for  not  crowding  and  el- 
bowing forward  to  get  out. 


292  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 


THE   DEAD    ALIVE. 


One  of  the  never-exhausted  topics  of  discussion 
and  conversation  in  prison  during  July,  was  that 
of  exchange  or  parole  of  prisoners  of  war. 

Some  of  the  new  prisoners  had  informed  us  that 
the  exchange  was  soon  to  be  resumed ;  others  de- 
nied it. 

One  morning  it  was  my  turn  to  scrub  the  floor ; 
and,  as  I  didn't  like  the  employment,  I  was  in- 
clined to  consider  it  a  hardship  and  an  imposition. 
I  was  giving  vent  to  my  feelings,  when  an  Illinois 
captain  who  was  assisting  me  said,  "  You  wouldn't 
fret  if  you  knew  how  well  off  you  were  here.  It 
is  a  privilege  to  be  allowed  to  keej)  clean." 

"  Yes,"  I  said  ;  "  but  we  only  make  a  sorry  at- 
tempt at  it." 

"  You  ought  to  be  down  in  one  of  the  cages  a 
little  while,"  replied  the  captain,  "and  then  you 
would  appreciate  this  room  and  its  conveniences." 

"What  are  the  cages?"  I  inquired  curiousl}^ 
"It  is  the  first  time  I've  heard  about  them.  Is 
there  any  one  there  now  ?  " 

"  An  underground  sort  of  a  dungeon  below  us, 


THE  DEAD  ALIVE.  293 

—  there's  half  a  dozen  of  them,  —  where  they  put 
men  once  in  a  while.  I  was  there  three  Aveeks 
once  ;  if  I'd  been  there  three  weeks  longer,  I  be- 
lieve I  should  have  gone  insane.  One  fellow  lost 
his  mind ;  he's  there  yet." 

"  How  came  you  to  get  there  ? "  I  inquired, 
pausing,  and  looking  up  astonished. 

"  It's  too  long  a  story  to  tell.  I  tried  to  escape ; 
got  out ;  they  caught  me,  and  put  me  there  for 
safe  keeping.  At  first  I  thought  it  a  great  joke ; 
but  it  wasn't :  it  wore  on  me.  There  were  several 
men  there  when  I  came  away.  Who  were  the}^  ? 
Why,  Union  spies ;  men  under  sentence  of  death. 
I  don't  want  to  get  there  again,  you  may  bet. 
This  ain't  a  parlor,  but  it's  above  ground." 

It  was  Captain  Jones's  manner,  more  than  his 
words,  that  impressed  me.  His  tones  were  low 
and  hoarse,  as  if  the  very  remembrance  of  the 
cage,  as  he  called  it,  excited  in  him  terrible  re- 
membrances, and  made  him  cautious  not  to  be 
overheard. 

I  had  a  presentiment  that  my  inquiries  about 
the  cage  would  be  more  fully  answered  before  I 
got  out  of  Libby. 

I  belonged  to  the  same  mess  with  Captain  Jones ; 
and  I  think  it  was  about  the  6th  of  July  when 
he  came  to  me,  exclaiming,  "  Have  you  heard  the 
news  ?  " 

-What  is  it?" 

"  I  guess  we  are   going  to  be  exchanged ;  all 


294  JACK  ALDEN. 

the  captains  are  ordered  down-stairs,  and  I  don't 
know  what  it  can  mean  but  that.  Hurrah,  old 
boy ! "  and  he  threw  up  his  hat. 

"Well,"  I  replied,  "I'll  be  glad  to  get  out  of 
here." 

In  a  few  moments  I,  with  some  others,  was 
ushered  into  Captain  Turner's  office,  which  was 
on  the  lower  floor  of  Libby,  and  drawn  up  in  a 
line. 

After  some  delay  we  were  informed  why  we 
were  called  to  the  office.  Two  Confederate  offi- 
cers, we  were  told,  had  been  tried  and  shot  in 
Kentucky  by  General  Burnside,  for  recruiting  in- 
side his  lines ;  and  we  were  to  select  two  of  our 
number  for  execution  by  drawing  lots. 

There  was  probably  not  a  man  among  us  but 
had  faced  death  more  than  once  in  battle,  but  our 
faces  were  pallid  and  drawn  with  the  strain  put 
upon  us  by  this  unusual  form  of  hazard. 

Finally  the  unlucky  designation  fell  upon  a 
captain  of  the  First  New  Jersey  Cavalry  and  one 
of  the  Fifty-first  Indiana,  and  they  were  marched 
away.  I  found  myself  drawing  a  long  breath  of 
relief,  and,  looking  around  on  the  faces  of  my  fel- 
low prisoners,  realized  the  horrible  nerve  strain 
placed  upon  us. 

As  these  men  do  not  concern  my  story  further,  I 
will  simply  say  that  after  being  conducted  to  Gen- 
eral Winder's  office,  and  taunted  hy  him,  they  had 
been  turned  into  Libby  again  to  await  their  fate. 


THE  DEAD  ALIVE.  295 

Our  government,  on  learning  of  this  affair,  se- 
lected a  son  of  General  Winder,  and  one  of  Gen- 
eral Lee,  to  be  shot  the  moment  that  it  should 
be  learned  that  these  officers  were  executed.  That 
settled  the  question ;  and  the  two  officers,  instead 
of  being  shot,  were  released  long  before  the  other 
prisoners  of  Libby  were. 

It  was  the  7th  of  July,  or  thereabouts,  before 
we  learned  of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg.  A  Con- 
federate sergeant,  who  sometimes  bought  pro- 
visions for  the  officers,  said  while  in  our  room, 
"  I  reckon  your  Yankee  army  got  a  right  smart 
lickin'  in  Pennsylvania  t'other  day.  Our  folks 
hev  got  forty  thousand  prisoners  marchin'  yer." 

Shortly  after  this,  the  next  day  I  think  it  was, 
he  told  us  that  Grant  had  given  up  the  siege  of 
Vicksburg. 

This  report,  as  may  be  supposed,  was  discussed 
by  my  comrades  ;  and  how  blue  we  were  over  it  no 
one  who  has  not  been  a  prisoner  of  war  can  under- 
stand. A  few  days  after  this  the  atmosphere  of 
gloom  produced  by  this  news  suddenly  changed. 
Cheering,  dancing,  and  shouting  were  heard  ;  and 
then  I  learned  that  the  (to  us)  joyful  intelligence 
had  come  that  Lee  had  been  beaten  at  Gettysburg, 
and  that  Vicksburg  had  been  captured,  and  over 
thirty  thousand  men  had  surrendered  there. 

This  news  was  confirmed  by  the  old  darky, 
who  said  in  low  tones,  "•  We's  got  'em  shur,  sar. 
The   Yanks  has  done  gone  an'  licked  dem  Rebs, 


296  ,  JACK  ALDEN. 

sar,"  and  he  gave  me  a  dirty  copy  of  the  Rich- 
mond Inquirer  containing  the  news. 

I  was  taking  my  turn  at  cooking  at  the  stove 
for  our  mess  one  forenoon  shortly  after  this,  when 
there  was  quite  a  stir  in  our  room  over  the  ad- 
vent of  some  prisoners  who  had  just  come  in.  I 
was  curious  as  to  what  the  commotion  meant, 
when  Captain  Jones  came  up,  saying  excitedly^ 
"  Have  you  seen  those  men  ?  " 

''  No,"  I  replied ;   "  what  men  are  they  ?  " 

"  Why,  three  men  just  out  of  the  cages  below ! 
Here  comes  one  of  them  I  saw  there.  He's  the 
one  that's  off  his  nut.  He's  worse  than  when  I 
met  him  down  there.     He's  a  queer  old  fish !  " 

The  person  in  question  had  approached  near 
Avhere  I  was  cooking.  He  was  dressed  in  the 
shreds  of  an  officer's  uniform.  In  his  unkempt 
hair  and  beard  was  a  green  mould,  the  result 
of  tlie  dampness  of  his  underground  dungeon. 
His  face  was  pallid,  like  that  of  one  long  ex- 
cluded from  the  light  of  day. 

"  How  are  you,  old  fellow  ?  "  I  said  sympatheti- 
cally.    "Have  a  piece  of  toasted  bread?" 

He  made  no  reply,  but  with  one  hand  clutched 
the  bread,  and  with  the  other  made  a  pitiful 
motion  to  shield  his  eyes,  as  if  from  light.  Then, 
slowly  dropping  his  hand,  with  his  half-closed 
eyes  fixed  on  me,  he  came  nearer. 

"  They  must  have  used  you  pretty  roughly 
down    there   where    you've    been,"    I   said,   as    I 


"  How  are  yoii,  old  fellow  ?     Have  a  piece  of  toasted  bread  ? 
—  Pa£;e  21>l). 


THE  DEAD  ALIVE.  297 

grasped  and  shook  his  hand.  Once  more  he 
peered  at  me,  with  his  hand  to  his  eyes,  and  then 
for  the  first  time,  in  high-pitched  tones,  tremulous 
with  suffering  and  weakness,  he  said  in  long- 
drawn-out  words,  "  I  can't  seem  to  kinder  re- 
member."    In  a  moment  I  recognized  him. 

I  dropped  the  pan  I  was  holding  over  the  fire, 
and  had  him  in  my  arms.  It  was  my  brave,  dear 
old  friend  Grim  !  But,  oh,  how  changed  !  "  Don't 
you  know  me  ?  "  I  exclaimed,  with  tears  in  my 
eyes,  and  sobbing  as  I  spoke ;  "  don't  you  know 
Jack  Alden?" 

As  if  some  benumbing  influence  rested  on  his 
faculties,  he  still  peered  in  my  face,  and  said 
slowly,  in  his  far-away,  high-pitched  tones,  "  Yes, 
Jack ;  I  remember  Jack,"  and  then  put  his  hand 
to  his  head,  as  if  it  pained  him,  and  said  slowly, 
"  Yes,  Jack ;  the  blacksmith  shop.  Jack  —  Jack  " 
—  and  began  a  pitiful  sobbing. 

"  This  is  Major  Grim,"  I  said  to  a  friend  who 
had  come  up,  "a  dear  old  friend  of  mine." 

Again  there  was  the  same  movement  of  his 
hand  towards  his  head,  as  if  it  pained  him  to 
think,  and  again  the  slow,  pitiful  voice,  "  Yes,  I'm 
Major  Grim ; "  and  then,  as  if  overcome  by  some 
great  strain  of  his  faculties,  with  both  hands  to 
his  head,  he  gave  a  sharp,  whimpering  cry,  and 
staggered. 

I  got  him  to  my  bunk,  and  said,  "  Don't  talk 
now." 


298  JACK  ALDEN. 

I  soon  got  his  face  and  hands  washed,  his 
beard  and  whiskers  trimmed,  and  brought  him 
some  nourishing  food. 

That  night  he  slept  well,  and  continued  to  sleep 
as  late  as  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.  When 
he  awoke,  he  remembered  me  perfectly ;  and  I 
thought  his  memory  and  mind  were  restored, 
thougfli  weak  and  shaken. 

That  afternoon  I  began  to  speak  to  him  of  his 
wife.  He  shook  his  head,  seeming  to  have  for- 
gotten her. 

I  spoke  of  this  to  my  friend  Jones ;  and  he,  in 
reply,  called  out  to  an  officer  of  his  acquaintance, 
"  See  here  !  This  is  Captain  Alden,  —  Colonel 
Brown  of  the st  Penn. ;  "  then  in  explana- 
tion said,  "  Colonel  Brown  was  a  surgeon  before 
he  got  so  interested  in  fighting  that  he  stopped 
carving  legs  and  arms,  and  went  to  making  busi- 
ness for  them  that  did."  I  shook  hands  with 
Brown,  and  told  him  about  Grim's  being  in 
the  underground  cell,  and  of  his  curious  loss  of 
memory. 

"■  Let  me  see  him,"  said  the  colonel ;  "  I  can  tell 
better  then."  The  ex-surgeon  looked  him  over, 
without  asking  him  any  questions,  but  observing 
what  he  said ;  then  took  me  aside,  and  said,  "  He 
has  probably  got  a  hurt  on  his  head.  If  he  had 
fallen  and  struck  on  his  head,  I  should  say,  frac- 
ture of  the  skull." 

I    then   remembered   that   in   the   letter   Major 


THE  DEAD  ALIVE.  299 

Grim  had  caused  to  be  written  after  being  taken 
prisoner,  he  mentioned  being  stunned  by  the  ex- 
plosion of  a  shell  just  before  being  taken  prisoner 
of  war. 

"  That's  it  probably.  He  may  never  get  over 
it,  and  he  may  suddenly  recover.  Let  him  alone  ; 
don't  worry  him." 

Things  continued  in  much  the  same  way  for 
two  months,  and  yet  there  was  no  exchange  of 
prisoners.  I  had,  meanwhile,  bought  clean  under- 
clothes for  Major  Grim,  who  could  by  this  time 
talk  quite  clearly  about  many  things  connected 
with  what  naturally  interested  us  in  prison ;  and 
yet  there  were  a  number  of  subjects  connected 
with  his  past  life  which  he  could  not  remember; 
and,  according  to  my  instructions  from  Colonel 
Brown,  I  did  not  press  such  subjects. 

In  September  some  articles,  including  a  small 
photograph-album,  which  it  will  be  remembered 
had  been  taken  from  me  when  I  went  into  Libby, 
after  repeated  requests  were  restored  to  me.  One 
of  the  photographs  was  of  Grim  and  his  wife, 
taken  when  he  was  at  the  hospital  in  Washing- 
ton. The  major  had  taken  this  album  to  look  at. 
As  he  turned  over  the  leaves,  I  watched  him  as 
he  came  to  this  picture.  He  didn't  remember. 
Finally  he  startled  me  with  his  peculiar,  shrill  cry, 
which  T  have  described  as  like  sobbing.  He  had 
dropped  the  album,  and  with  both  hands  to  his 
head  swayed  back  and  forth,  and  then  sobbed  out. 


300  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  Mary  !  Mary  !  Mary  !  "  Another  blank  space  in 
his  mind  had  been  filled. 

All  this  I  tell  as  it  occurred.  I  don't  pretend 
to  explain  these  facts ;  I  only  try  to  detail  them 
minutely,  because  they  were  matters  of  astonish- 
ment to  me  at  the  time,  and  are  still,  although  I 
have  since  heard  them  explained  from  scientific 
data  by  Dr.  Milner  and  other  eminent  surgeons. 

I  do  not  pretend  to  follow  their  course  of  rea- 
soning, and  am  inclined  to  believe  that  all  theories 
regarding  such  mental  disturbances  are  guess-work. 
I  simply  tell  the  facts  ;  and  as  curious  and  wonder- 
ful as  they  appear,  they  are  but  transcripts  of  what 
I  observed. 

The  major's  general  health  continued  to  improve 
steadily  from  the  time  I  first  met  him  in  prison ; 
but  yet  his  mind  was  far  from  being  restored  to 
a  healthy  condition.  He  was,  as  Captain  Jones 
said,  very  queer.  There  were  still  many  things 
in  his  past  life  which,  to  my  astonishment,  he  did 
not  remember. 

I  wrote  to  his  wife,  and  sent  the  letter  to  the 
prison  commandant,  with  money  to  have  it  for- 
warded through  the  lines,  telling  her  of  her  hus- 
band's welfare.  The  letter,  however,  as  we 
afterwards  learned,  like  many  others  sent  from 
prison,  for  some  reason  I  cannot  explain,  never 
reached  its  destination. 


"/  CAN'T  GET  out:'  301 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

"I  can't  get  out." 

It  was  October,  1863.  I  had  been  a  prisoner 
over  five  months,  and  yet  there  seemed  no  pros- 
pect of  the  resumption  of  exchange,  or  parole 
of  prisoners,  by  the  Confederate  and  Federal 
authorities. 

I  envied  even  Major  Grim's  benumbed  condi- 
tion of  mind,  which  made  him  fret  at  imprison- 
ment less  than  myself.  I  now  understood  for  the 
first  time  the  .  pathos  of  the  cry  which  Sterne 
attributed  to  the  caged  starling,  "  I  can't  get 
out."  It  is  but  a  natural  expression  of  the  im- 
potent impatience  of  a  prisoner.  It  was  not  so 
much  hunger  or  cold  that  made  our  life  hard  to 
bear;  it  was  the  lethargy  to  which  both  mind 
and  body  were  condemned.  As  the  caged  bird 
beats  with  its  wino-s  the  bars  of  its  cag-e  in 
useless  endeavor  to  get  out,  so  the  prisoner  at 
Libby  spent  his  time  and  thought  in  many  un- 
availing plans  and  attempts  at  escape. 

Major  Grim  had  made  perceptible  improvement. 
His  general  health  was  better  ;  and  he  no  longer 
exhibited  that  wildness  of  manner  reo-ardinsf  most 


302  JACK  ALDEN. 

objects  suddenly  presented  to  his  mind.  At  times, 
however,  when  I  spoke  on  what  I  supposed  would 
be  a  subject  of  common  interest,  he  regarded 
me  with  a  surprised,  listless  look,  as  though  he 
thought  me  demented.  About  all  matters  of  our 
prison  life  he  was  exceedingly  acute.  One  of  the 
curious  things  about  his  mental  condition  Avas  that 
he  did  not  recall  the  incidents  of  his  capture  in 
battle.  There  were,  as  he  had  said,  blank  spots 
in  his  mind. 

In  October  I  saw  the  surgeon  of  the  prison,  who 
had  his  quarters  on  the  lower  floor,  and  attempted 
to  interest  him  in  the  case.  He  responded  at  once, 
and  said,  "  Where  is  he  ?  He  ought  to  be  in  the 
hospital." 

When  I  went  back  to  Grim  and  told  him  what 
the  surgeon  had  said,  "I  won't  go  !  "  he  exclaimed. 
"Don't  send  me  away;  they  will  put  me  down 
there  with  the  rats  ! ' '  And  he  became  so  excited 
that  I  thought  best  not  to  press  the  subject. 

A  few  days  after  this,  meeting  the  surgeon  in 
one  of  the  lower  rooms,  he  asked  me  about  Major 
Grim.  I  explained  to  him  how  excited  he  was 
when  it  was  proposed  that  he  should  go  to  the 
hospital. 

The  next  day  I  got  an  order  to  accompany  a 
Confederate  sergeant  and  Major  Grim  to  the  sur- 
geon's office,  which  was  on  the  lower  floor,  at  the 
east  part  of  Libby. 

Upon  seeing  him.  Turner,  the  commandant,  who 


"/  CAN'T  GET  out:'  303 

was  at  the  surgeon's  office,  said,  "  This  is  the  man 
who  was  arrested  and  confined  as  a  spy." 

I  then  learned  for  the  first  time  the  cause  of 
Major  Grim's  incarceration  in  one  of  the  dun- 
geons of  the  prison. 

The  major  had  been  found  under  suspicious 
circumstances  in  the  streets  of  Richmond,  wear- 
incr  a  loner  linen  duster  over  his  uniform.  And, 
on  being  arrested  and  questioned,  his  answers  had 
been  unsatisfactory ;  and  as  it  had  been  ascertained 
that  information  regarding  the  plans  of  the  forti- 
fications of  Richmond  had  been  conveyed  to  the 
Yankees,  the  Confederates  naturally  concluded 
that  he  was  a  spy.  But  they  had  been  unable, 
after  investigation,  to  connect  him  with  any  such 
work,  and  had,  therefore,  after  a  long  time  released 
him. 

"We  have  been  told,  however,"  said  Turner, 
"  that  other  information  of  a  very  dangerous  char- 
acter has,  within  a  few  months,  been  regularly 
conveyed  to  the  Yankee  army."' 

I  thought  at  once  of  Add,  and  the  mystery  that 
surrounded  him. 

I  explained  to  the  surgeon,  in  the  presence  of 
the  commandant,  the  peculiar  condition  of  Major 
Grim's  mind  when  I  first  met  him  in  Libby ; 
and  I  must  confess  the  surgeon  treated  us  very 
kindly. 

He  questioned  Grim  ;  and  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  examination  said,  "  It  is  a  very  obscure  case." 


304  JACK  ALDEN. 

And  then  suspiciously  exclaimed,  "  I  have  read  in 
the  books  of  similar  cases ;  but  how  do  I  know  but 
what  this  is  a  Yankee  trick  of  his,  in  order  to 
facilitate  his  escape  ?  " 

"  If  it  was,"  I  replied  rather  stiffly,  "  would  he 
not  prefer  to  be  placed  in  the  hospital,  where  his 
chances  of  getting  away  are  better  than  in  the 
prison  quarters?" 

The  surgeon  shook  his  head  doubtfully,  when  I 
added,  "  There  is  an  officer  in  your  army  who 
knows  us  both,  and  who  will  vouch  for  our  hon- 
orable conduct."  And  then,  somewhat  hotly,  I 
continued,  "  We  treated  him  somewhat  differently 
when  he  was  a  prisoner  than  you  are  treating  us. 
Inquire  of  Captain  James  Milner  if  you  doubt  it." 

"  Captain  Milner !  "  exclaimed  the  surgeon  ;  "  I 
am  well  acquainted  with  him.  He's  in  the  city 
now ;  he's  a  very  distinguished  officer,  sir,  and 
has  just  been  married  to  a  young  lady  of  our 
city  —  one  of  the  first  families.  We'll  take  his 
indorsement  for  anything." 

When  we  left  the  commandant,  he  very  kindly 
said,  "I  will  ascertain  if  Captain  Milner  is  still 
in  the  city ;  and,  if  so,  I  will  communicate  with 
him." 

I  was  somewhat  excited,  as  the  reader  may 
infer,  at  thoughts  of  meeting  this  young  Con- 
federate captain,  of  whom  I  had  formed  a  very 
high  opinion. 

I  did  not  have  long  to  wait;  for  the  next  day 


"/  CAN'T  GET  OUT.''  305 

I  was  called  to  the  commandant's  office,  and  there 
found  Captain  Milner  awaiting  me. 

He  greeted  me  almost  affectionately,  and  I  had 
a  long  conversation  with  him.  He  very  kindly 
and  generously  acknowledged  to  the  commandant 
his  indebtedness  to  me,  and  said,  "  If  you  are 
willing  to  take  Captain  Alden's  parole  of  honor, 
I  should  like  to  take  him  out  and  introduce  him 
to  my  friends." 

"  Impossible  !  "  exclaimed  Turner ;  "  it's  against 
General  Winder's  express  orders.  I  have  rather 
overstepped  the  rule  in  this  case,  anyway.  I'm 
blamed  by  the  Yankee  prisoners  for  being  harsh, 
and  General  Winder  blames  me  often  for  treating 
them  too  well.  He  holds  me  to  a  very  strict 
account.  Captain." 

I  was  more  and  more  impressed  with  Captain 
Milner's  manly  and  chivalrous  character,  and  am 
sure  it  was  not  his  fault  that  he  did  not  afterward 
succeed  in  his  endeavor  to  get  both  myself  and 
Major  Grim  out  of  prison  on  a  special  exchange. 

I  mentioned  Raymond  to  him,  and  spoke  of  his 
leaving  the  Confederate  service,  and  of  his  taking 
a  position  as  a  cadet  in  the  United  States  medical 
service. 

"Such  men,"  he  said,  with  his  face  darkening 
into  a  frown,  "  are  a  disgrace  to  any  service  ;  he's 
a  traitor  to  our  side,  and  will  turn  traitor  agfain  if 
it  suits  his  convenience.  He  always  was  a  little 
sweet  on  sister  May,  though.      I  hope  she  don't 


306  JACK  ALDEN. 

encourage  him."  I  hoped  so  too,  but  said  noth- 
ing. 

"By  the  way,"  said  Captain  Milner,  "one  of 
your  men  deserted  to  us  at  Fredericksbuig,  who 
said  he  knew  you." 

"  Wasn't  his  name  Key  ?  "  I  said,  thinking  of 
Add.  "  One  of  my  men,  by  that  name,  who  had 
been  court-martialed  and  'broke,'  deserted  while 
we  were  there." 

I  told  him  about  the  circumstances,  but  of  course 
did  not  tell  him  what  I  was  more  than  half  con- 
vinced of,  that  Key  was  a  Union  spy. 

I  did  not  see  Milner  again  ;  but  several  days 
after  his  wife  sent  me  a  basket  containing  fruit, 
food,  and  clothing,  and  a  note  expressing  her  grati- 
tude to  me  for  kindness  rendered  to  the  captain 
while  he  was  wounded  and  a  prisoner  of  war;  that 
she  hoped  some  day  when  "this  cruel  war  was 
over "  to  testify  in  person  her  gratitude  to  one 
who,  though  an  enemy,  had  saved  the  life  of  Cap- 
tain Milner.  There  was  much  more  in  the  same 
vein,  such  as  might  naturally  come  from  a  highly 
cultivated  and  newly  married  young  woman. 

Major  Grim  was  attended  occasionally  by  the 
surgeon,  but  there  was  no  marked  improvement  in 
his  case. 

November  was  rather  an  exciting  month  in 
Libby.  Scurvy  had  broken  out  among  us,  and 
one  man  had  died  from  it.  One  of  our  officers 
had  obtained  a  citizen's  suit  in  some  incomprehen- 


"/  CAN'T  GET  out:'  307 

sible  manner,  and  had  coolly  walked  by  the  guard, 
and  into  the  streets,  without  hindrance. 

Another  prisoner  showed  me  a  Confederate  suit 
in  which  he  proposed  to  dress  himself,  and  tlien 
escort  me,  as  if  under  guard,  outside  the  prison. 
"  You've  got  the  money,"  he  explained,  '•'  and  I've 
got  this  suit,  and  with  both  together  we  can  get 
into  our  lines."  In  a  day  or  two,  however,  a  Con- 
federate guard  came  in  and  searched  our  part  of 
the  prison,  and  seized  the  suit. 

I  had  a  suspicion  at  the  time  that  the  man  was 
a  Confederate  spy  in  disguise,  and  that  this  seizure 
was  intended  to  give  us  confidence  in  him.  It 
was  about  this  time,  I  think,  for  I  haven't  a  record 
of  dates,  that  a  Confederate  sergeant  came  through 
our  rooms,  as  often  happened,  saying,  "  If  there 
is  any  one  here  who  has  any  greenbacks,  I'm  pav- 
ing five  dollars  for  one  in  Confederate  money !  " 
When  he  came  near  me,  he  stopped,  lifted  his  hat, 
which  had  been  pulled  down  over  his  eyes;  and 
I  could  not  wholly  restrain  an  exclamation,  for  it 
was  Add.  He  gave  a  warning  shake  of  his  head, 
slipped  some  crumpled  paper  into  my  hand,  and 
then  began  fumbling  some  Confederate  money  in 
his  fingers,  as  if  he  had  made  an  exchange  with 
me.  He  then  passed  down  the  room,  uttering  the 
same  cry,  "If  any  one  here  has  greenbacks,  I'm 
paying  five  dollars  for  one,  gentlemen ! "  I  got 
near  the  window,  and  examined  the  note.  It  began 
abruptly,  — 


308  JACK  ALDEN. 

"  Since  I  was  here  last  I've  seen  General  Blust. 
Exchange  is  no  go.  Your  folks  are  well ;  they 
are  very  anxious,  though.  I  could  help  you  es- 
cape, but  it  would  endanger  more  important  ser- 
vice I'm   concerned  in.      Keep   this   number,  32 

Street.     If   you  can  get   outside,  go  there ; 

give  them  this  password,  '  Lincoln's  friends.' " 
The  note  was  written  in  a  hurried  manner.  I 
could  not  make  out  whether  the  last  figure  was 
a  seven  or  nine ;  and  as  I  had  no  immediate  hopes 
of  getting  away,  it  did  not  interest  me  then  as 
much  as  it  did  afterwards. 

During  November  and  December  there  were 
whispers  and  covert  allusions  to'  tunnelling  out 
of  Libby ;  but  I  could  not  discern  that  they  were 
anything  but  rumors,  and  that  loose  kind  of  talk 
that  is  common  among  men  similarly  circumstanced 
with  ourselves. 

One  day,  soon  after  this.  Captain  Jones  came 
to  me,  and  said  in  a  whisper,  while  brushing  some 
dirt  from  his  uniform,  "  Keep  mum  if  I'm  away 
nights ;  don't  say  anything.     Grim  is  in  it  too !  " 

"In  what?" 

"  Tunnelling,"  he  replied.      "  Mum's  the  word." 

As  the  major  had  not  said  anything  to  me,  and 
as  I  had  never  heard  him  even  discuss  plans  for 
escape,  I  concluded  Jones  had  either  been  dream- 
ing, or  was  simply  pretending  to  know  something 
of  which  he  had  possibly  heard  rumors. 


THE  AIR   OF  LIBERTY.  309 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

THE   AIR   OF   LIBERTY. 

During  the  larger  part  of  the  winter  of  1863 
there  were  twelve  hundred  prisoners  in  Libby, 
mostly  crowded  into  the  six  rooms  of  its  two 
upjDer  floors.  These  rooms  communicated  with 
one  another,  and,  by  means  of  a  stairway  below 
them,  with  the  room  used  as  a  kitchen. 

At  the  west  end  of  Libby,  next  to  the  kitchen, 
was  the  commandant's  office ;  and  at  the  east  end 
the  hospital,  both  of  which  were  separated  from 
the  kitchen  by  heavy  blank  walls  without  doors 
or  other  means  of  communication  except  from  the 
outside. 

Under  the  whole  length  of  Libby  was  a  cellar 
separated  into  compartments  by  blank  walls  which 
corresponded  with  those  we  have  mentioned.  This, 
with  the  isolated  position  of  the  building,  made 
it  easy  to  guard.  At  first  glance  it  would  seem 
impossible  for  its  prisoners  to  "■  make  a  break,"  or 
find  any  means  of  escape. 

During  the  Avinter  months  I  had  been  one  of 
seventy  men  who  had  participated  in  an  attempt 
at  escape  by  means  of  the  central  cellar,  which 


310  JACK  ALDEN. 

had  been  reached  by  taking  up  two  floor  boards 
in  the  kitchen.  From  this  cellar,  on  the  basement 
side,  was  an  open  doorway  leading  to  the  street. 
This  was  unguarded  except  by  two  sentinels  on 
the  sidewalk. 

At  the  north  end  of  this  section  of  the  cellar 
were  the  padlocked  dungeons,  which  I  have  be- 
fore mentioned  as  the  place  where  Major  Grim 
had  for  a  time  been  confined.  At  this  time, 
however,  they  had  no  occupant. 

The  plan  for  escape  had  been  abandoned,  be- 
cause it  was  believed  that  some  one  of  our 
number  was  a  rebel  spy  in  disguise,  who  had 
communicated  the  secret  to  the  prison  officers. 
Whether  this  was  true  or  not,  we  had  one  night 
almost  been  caught  while  in  the  cellar,  by  the  en- 
trance of  the  Confederate  guard  into  the  kitchen 
above.  We  had  got  out  without  being  detected ; 
but  it  was,  as  Captain  Jones  called  it,  "a  very 
close  call." 

It  was  decided  by  our  leader  that  the  attempt 
had  better  be  abandoned,  as  it  was  impossible  to 
overpower  the  guard  without  creating  an  alarm, 
which  would  lead  to  detection  and  punishment, 
and  thus  spoil  any  future  plans  of  escape. 

A  few  days  passed  without  anything  more  being 
said,  when  one  morning  Jones  informed  me  that 
he  and  others  had  been  trying  to  tunnel  out  of 
the  east  cellar  into  a  sewer ;  but  after  breaking 
their   knives,   and  wearing   themselves  out,   they 


THE  AIR   OF  LIBERTY.  311 

had  encountered  such  formidable  obstacles  that  it 
had  compelled  the  abandonment  of  the  plan. 

"  I  guess,"  he  added,  "  that  it  is  the  last  tunnel 
that  will  be  attempted  for  some  time.  I'm  all 
worn  out,  and  I  guess  the  rest  of  the  men  are  in 
the  same  fix.  So  you  didn't  lose  anything  by 
being  out  of  it." 

After  this,  both  Jones  and  my  old  friend  talked 
their  tunnelling  exploits  over  with  me,  but  refused 
to  divulge  how  they  had  reached  the  east  cellar, 
saying  they  had  promised  not  to  tell ;  and  as  I 
supposed  they  reached  it  in  some  way  from  the 
middle  cellar  in  the  old  manner,  I  did  not  exhibit 
a  great  deal  of  curiosity.  My  imagination,  how- 
ever, was  excited  by  these  events,  and  I  often  said 
if  there  were  again  any  plans  formed  to  escape,  I 
Jor  one  was  anxious  to  take  my  chance  in  it. 

Grim  said,  "•  I  shouldn't  have  gone  out  without 
you,  but  you  couldn't  have  stood  it,  digging  in 
that  tunnel ;  I  almost  gave   out  myself." 

After  this,  talk  of  escape  for  a  time  ceased.  I, 
like  many  others,  resigned  myself  to  the  fate  of 
awaiting  the  tardy  exchange  of  prisoners.  My 
health,  which  up  to  this  time  had  been  very  good, 
began  to  yield  under  the  strain  of  imprisonment. 

It  was  more  than  a  month  after,  if  I  remember 
rightly,  tliat  I  awoke  one  night  and  turned  to 
speak  to  Captain  Jones.  All  the  lights  were  out ; 
but  he  was  absent  from  his  accustomed  sleeping- 
place. 


312  JACK  ALDEN. 

At  first  I  thouglit  he  was  absent  in  some  other 
room,  visiting  friends ;  but  when  for  several  nights 
in  succession  the  same  thing  occurred,  I  began  to 
wonder  where  he  spent  his  nights. 

This  wonder  was  not  decreased  when  one  night 
not  long  after  I  heard  Major  Grim  get  up  and 
softly  creep  away.  The  next  night  the  same 
thing  occurred  again;  and  I  got  up  and  followed 
him  down  the  stairway  to  the  kitchen.  To  my 
astonishment,  here  he  disappeared ;  for,  though 
I  called  to  him,  and  groped  all  around,  he  was 
not  there. 

I  went  back  to  my  sleeping-place,  wondering 
what  new  scheme  was  on  foot,  no  less  than  at 
his  mysterious  disappearance  from  the  kitchen. 
When  at  dawn  I  awoke,  I  found  both  Grim  and 
Jones  in  their  accustomed  places,  sleeping  heavily. 
Major  Grim  looked  haggard  and  tired,  while  on 
Captain  Jones's  clothing  there  was  evidence  that 
he  had  been  in  some  underground  place. 

Here  let  me  say,  that  though  Major' Grim  had 
what  we  called  "  blank  spots "  in  his  memory, 
he  was  sharp  and  keen  regarding  what  was  going 
on  in  the  prison.  The  surgeon  told  me  that  un- 
der sudden  excitement  he  might  regain  his  lost 
power,  or  by  the  same  means  be  thrown  into  a 
worse  condition. 

Captain  Jones  yawned  when  I  shook  him,  and 
said,  "  What's  the  matter,  my  boy  ?  Can't  you 
let  a  fellow  sleep  a  little  longer  ?  " 


THE  AIR   OF  LIBERTY.  313 

"  I  suppose  I  ought  to,"  I  replied ;  "  you  get 
so  little  sleep  nights  now." 

Sitting  upright,  he  exclaimed  in  evident  sur- 
prise, "What's  that  you  say?" 

"  You  seem,"  I  replied,  "  to  be  away  from  your 
bed  and  board  all  night ;  and  too  much  dissipation 
and  excitement  are  apt  to  wear  one  out,  you  know. 
There's  Grim!    Look  at  him;  he  looks  like  death." 

"Well,  I'll  tell  you,"  said  the  captain,  coolly 
yawning.  "  My  bed  itself  is  a  board ;  and  the 
attractions  and  amusements  of  this  place  are  so 
numerous  that,  like  Artemus  Ward  and  his  twins, 
I  have  to  get  up  nights  to  laugh.  I  don't  want 
to  disturb  you,  bunkie ;  so  I  seek  out  secluded 
spots  in  which  to  do    my  laughing." 

"  Underground,  I  suppose,"  I  said ;  "  but  it 
seems  to  me  you  might  find  secluded  spots  that 
don't  leave  such  a  smell  on  you." 

"Sh-h-h-h!"  ejaculated  Jones  between  his  teeth. 
"  Don't  speak  so  loud."  Then,  significantly  nod- 
ding towards  our  slumbering  comrade,  said,  "  The 
old  boy  is  pretty  well  played  out  with  digging ; 
but  you  can't  keep  him  out  of  it." 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  I  exclaimed.  "  Why  don't  you 
trust  me  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Jones,  "  we  are  sworn  into  it 
ourselves;  we've  asked  leave  to  take  you  into 
the  secret.  I'll  see  the  leader  to-night,  and  tell 
him  what  you  know.  You  wouldn't  have  me 
violate  my  word,  would  you  ? " 


314  JACK  ALDEN. 

Finally  all  plans  of  escape  ceased  to  be  talked 
of,  and  February,  1864,  came.  The  weather  was 
cold,  and  our  food  was  insufficient  for  proper 
nourishment.  I  had  received  food  and  notes  from  « 
young  Milner's  wife  twice  since  the  times  men- 
tioned, and  was  deemed  very  fortunate  in  hav- 
ing friends  in  Richmond  with  whom  I  could 
communicate. 

I  mention  this  fact ;  for  little  things,  in  them- 
selves insignificant,  count  for  so  much  among  pris- 
oners of  war. 

In  conversation  with  the  Confederate  surgeon, 
I  learned  that  an  exchange  of  prisoners  between 
the  Confederate  and  Union  authorities  was  prac- 
tically impossible  since  the  appointment  of  General 
Butler  as  Commissioner  of  Exchange. 

The  surgeon  was  polite,  and  very  much  inter- 
ested in  what  he  called  Grim's  extraordinary  lapse 
of  memory.  The  days  dragged  their  slow  length  ' 
away,  when,  on  the  night  of  the  9th  of  Febru- 
ary, I  was  awakened  by  Major  Grim,  just  as  I  had 
fallen  asleep. 

"  Get  up,"  he  said  in  a  hoarse  and  excited  whis- 
per, "  and  scramble  your  traps  together  to  go  out." 

I  sat  up  and  rubbed  my  eyes,  and  perceived,  as 
if  in  a  dream,  that  both  Grim  and  Jones  were 
equipping  themselves  for  a  journey. 

"  What  is  the  matter  ?  Have  you  gone  wild  ?  ' ' 
I  said  in  a  low  and  astonished  voice. 

" Sh-h-h-h ! "  said  Captain  Jones  hoarsely.    "This 


THE  AIR   OF  LIBERTY.  315 

is  a  chance  in  a  thousand ;  get  your  things  together 
and  follow  us.  We've  no  right  to  tell  you  any- 
thing, but  'twill  pay  to  follow  us." 

I  was  now  all  excitement ;  and  soon,  equipped 
■with  my  blanket  and  haversack,  softly  stepping 
over  the  slumbering  forms  of  fellow  prisoners,  fol- 
lowed them  down-stairs  and  into  the  kitchen. 
Here,  near  the  Carey-street  door,  I  found  fifty 
men  or  more  silently  but  excitedly  struggling  for 
precedence. 

I  "wonderingiy  held  on  to  Jones,  waiting  my 
turn,  and  was  pressed  by  the  door  to  the  fire- 
place, which  I  was  very  near  before  I  saw  what 
was  happening.  Men  were  disappearing  down  a 
wide  hole  in  the  rear  of  the  fireplace,  where  brick 
-had  been  removed.  Without  question  I  followed 
Jones  down  this  hole,  which  led  to  the  east  cellar ; 
and  here,  after  some  delay,  reached  the  mouth  of 
a  tunnel  which  had  been  dug  under  the  street, 
and,  almost  before  I  could  realize  it,  was  crawling 
through  a  dark,  damp  hole  underground. 

When  I  stood  in  the  free  air,  sheltered  by  a  shed, 
which  I  had  often  noticed  from  the  prison  window, 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  I  was  almost 
bewildered.  We  saw  the  sentinels  pacing  their 
posts ;  and  in  the  interval  while  we  stood  wait- 
ing, their  cry,  "  Ten  o'clock,  and  all's  well,"  rang 
out  like  a  voice  of  prophetic  assurance. 

"  We'd  better  get  outside  of  city  limits,"  whis- 
pered the  captain,  "  as  soon  as  possible." 


316  JACK  ALBEN. 

"  No,"  said  Grim  in  a  low  voice,  but  in  a  tone 
of  command,  more  like  his  old  self  than  I  had 
heard  since  meeting  him  in  Libby ;  "  we'll  stay 
in  the  city  till  the  pursuit  and  cry  is  over. 
Come  on." 

And  then  in  his  old  manner  of  commanding,  that 
reassured  me,  without  hesitation  he  went  with 
firm  tread  down  the  street  leading  in  a  northerly 
direction  out  of  Richmond,  as  if  the  air  of  liberty 
had  reawakened  and  invigorated  his  faculties.  In 
the  partial  darkness  we  passed  people  on  the 
street ;  and  then,  through  alleyways  and  back 
streets,  went  toward  the  northern  suburbs  of  Rich- 
mond. For  some  time  we  went  on  in  this  man- 
ner, when  at  a  narrow  alley  Grim  began  counting 
the  doors ;  and  then,  turning  back,  began  to  count 
once  more. 

"  This  is  the  place,"  he  finally  said  confidently, 
stopping  at  a  low  door  in  the  narrow  alley  ;  "  but 
I'll  make  sure  of  it."  And,  turning,  he  retraced 
his  steps,  and  came  back,  counting  the  doorways 
once  again. 

"  Yes  ;  I  kinder  thought  I  was  right." 

He  was  about  to  knock  at  the  low  door,  when 
Jones  caught  his  hand,  and  said  doubtingly,  "  Ma- 
jor, you  know  you  ain't  just  right  in  your  head 
always." 

"  Step  to  the  corner,"  said  the  major  in  a 
tone  of  assertion,  "and  watch  and  listen  if  you 
doubt." 


THE  AIR   OF  LIBERTY.  317 

He  knocked  at  the  doorway  in  a  peculiar  man- 
ner.    We  heard  the  doorway  unbolted. 

"  Who  come  dar  ?  " 

"Lincoln's  friends,"  said  Major  Grim. 

"  Always  true,"  said  the  other  voice  in  reply,  as 
if  by  agreement. 

The  old  colored  man  beckoned  to  us  ;  and  I  then 
remembered  that  "  Lincoln's  friends  "  was  the  pass- 
word Add  had  given  me,  and  I  had  no  doubt  it  was 
the  same  place  he  had  mentioned  in  liis  note.  We 
were  soon  escorted  to  a  small  room,  apparently 
the  servants'  quarters  of  a  large  residence. 

"  Clar  ter  goodness  !  Whar  dus  you  uns  come 
from  ?  "  he  exclaimed. 

"  You  remember  me,   don't  you  ?  "  said  Grim. 
-"  I  came  here  with  Sergeant  Key.     Have  you  seen 
him  lately  ?  " 

"  Yes;  I  'member,"  said  the  black  man.  "  You 
war  not  right  here,"  touching  his  head.  "Massa 
Key,  why  he  was  here  a  right  smart  time  ago  ter 
send  Steve  thro'  to  de  Lincoln  folks." 

"The  streets  are  full  of  Yanks,"  said  Grim. 
"  Guess  you  had  better  hide  us  for  a  while.  The 
rebs  will  be  kinder  wild  when  they  find  out 
about  it." 

"  You  bet,"  agreed  Jones ;  "  they'll  be  wild  to- 
morrow." 

Seeing  me  give  Captain  Jones  a  warning  look, 
Grim  said,  "Don't  doubt  this  black  man.  He's 
all  white  inside,  if  his  skin  is  black." 


318  JACK  ALDEN. 

In  fifteen  minutes  the  colored  man  returned, 
bringing  a  basket ;  and  with  the  basket  in  one 
hand  and  a  candle  in  the  other,  conducted  us 
through  a  passageway,  and,  after  cautioning  us 
to  remove  our  shoes,  conducted  us  up  a  pair  of 
back  stairs  of  the  main  building  into  a  low  attic 
room.  In  this  room  there  was  a  large  bed,  several 
packing-boxes,  trunks,  and  a  clutter  of  other  such 
material  as  is  found  in  the  store-room  of  a  large 
house. 

After  cautioning  us  once  more,  the  colored  man 
set  the  basket  inside  the  doorway,  and  then  say- 
ing, "  Will  see  you  right  smart  soon,  sar,"  bowed, 
and  I  heard  him  lock  the  door. 

I  lay  down  on  the  bed,  and  fell  into  a  heavy 
slumber ;  and  when  I  awoke,  though  it  was 
broad  day,  both  Grim  and  Jones  were  still  slum- 
bering. 

The  attic  room  was  lighted  by  a  half  window, 
to  which  I  went,  and  looked  out  upon  a  broad 
street,  wliere  there  were  residences  devoted  evi- 
dently to  the  better  class  of  the  people  of  Rich- 
mond. When  Grim  had  awakened,  I  commented 
on  this  fact  to  him. 

"Yes,"  he  replied;  "we  entered  this  house  by 
the  servants'  quarters  from  the  rear." 

The  street  seemed  deserted  during  the  morning 
hours,  and  but  few  people  passed.  After  Captain 
Jones  awoke,  Major  Grim  set  out  some  food  from 
the  basket,  such  as  bacon,  sweet  potatoes,   corn- 


THE  AIR  OF  LIBERTY.  319 

bread,  and  a  bottle   of   cold   tea.     We  all   ate  a 
very  hearty  meal. 

"  The  air  of  liberty,"  said  Jones,  smacking  his 
lips  over  the  last  crumb,  "gives  one  an  appetite 
like  a  wolf's.     I  could  eat  the  basket !  " 


320  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

UNDER   god's    flag. 

We  remained  in  the  room  described  for  four 
days,  during  which  time  we  were  visited  several 
times  by  Sam  Brent  and  his  wife,  who  brought  us 
food,  and  news  from  the  outside  world.  In  this 
way  we  learned  that  when  it  had  been  discovered 
that  one  hundred  and  forty  prisoners  had  mys- 
teriously disappeared  from  Libby,  the  greatest 
excitement  prevailed  in  Richmond. 

General  Winder  was  furious,  and  had  caused 
the  entire  guard  detail  of  the  prison  to  be  ar- 
rested and  searched  for  greenbacks,  believing  that 
they  had  been  bribed.  After  two  days  of  conjec- 
ture and  mystery  the  tunnel  was  accidentally  dis- 
covered. Scouts  had  meanwhile  been  sent  out  in 
every  direction  to  capture  the  escaping  prisoners. 

Sam  thought  it  was  best  for  us  to  lie  still  in 
our  present  place  of  concealment  until  the  active 
chase  was  over,  and  then  our  escape  could  be 
made  with  comparative  ease.  This  plan  was  not 
destined  to  be  carried  out. 

On  the  evening  of  the  fourth  day  of  our  con- 
cealment, Sam  Brent,  with  a  candle  in  one  hand 


UNDER   GOD'S  FLAG.  321 

and  a  basket  in  the  other,  entered  the  room,  care- 
fully closed  the  door,  and  said,  "  Time  y's  gwine 
away  fro'  heah.  Massa  Robert  wor  heah  ter-day, 
and  says,  '  Sam,  der  ye  know  whar  dem  Yanks 
is?'" 

"Guess  he  was  joking,"  said  Grim,  "wasn't 
he?" 

"Massa  Robert  mighty  fon'  of  me.  We's 
raised  togedder,"  said  Brent,  "but  Massa  Robert 
neber  joke." 

It  was  about  ten  o'clock  at  night  when  we 
went  down  the  narrow  stairway,  and  halted  in  the 
kitchen  to  fill  our  canteens.  Sam  suddenly  ex- 
-claimed  in  a  hoarse  whisper,  "  Get  inter  dat  closet 
dar,  quick!  Dar's  some  one  comin'!"  and  with 
this,  Sam  blew  out  the  candle  and  went  to  the 
door. 

"Sam!  Sam!"  said  a  feminine  voice,  "are 
you  there  ?  " 

"Yes,  missus,"  answered  Brent;  "jus'  blowed 
out  de  candle  ter  leab!  "  Then  the  door  opened, 
and  a  young  and  beautiful  lady,  with  a  lighted 
candle  in  her  hand,  stepped  through  the  doorway. 

We  had  been  unable  to  fully  close  the  closet 
door  on  account  of  our  number,  and  therefore 
were  in  much  fear  that  we  should  be  discovered. 

"  I  have  rung  for  you  twice  within  a  half -hour, 
Sam,"  said  the  young  lady  imperiously;  "  where 's 
Milly?" 

"Beg    pardon;   didn't     hear   yer,"    said    Sam 


322  JACK  ALDEN. 

humbly;  " 'spect  I's  gettin'  deaf.  Milly's  gone 
ter  bed,  missus!  " 

"Master  James  will  be  here  to-morrow,  and 
you  must  be  particular  about  the  dinner. "  Then 
she  gave  Sam  directions  about  a  dinner  that  made 
my  mouth  water,  all  the  time  looking  toward 
us,  but  standing  with  the  light  shining  in  her 
face. 

She  was  certainly  very  beautiful,  but  of  a  dif- 
ferent type  from  our  New  England  girls;  and  I 
could  not  but  admire  her  graceful  habit  of  com- 
mand, her  self-possession,  and  that  certain  some- 
thing which  gave  to  her  an  air  of  refined  dignity 
and  distinction,  which  blended  very  sweetly  with 
her  every  attitude,  even  when  speaking  to  her 
servant. 

Had  not  the  light  been  shining  in  her  face,  and 
throwing  the  place  where  we  stood  in  shadow,  we 
must  have  been  discovered. 

She  was  gone  when  Sam  came  back  into  the 
kitchen,  sp.ying,  "You  gemmen  were  powerful 
near  ter  trouble.  Dat  yer  lady's  sister  been  mar- 
ried lately,  and  dey's  powerful  towsey,  dey  is, 
when  Massa  James  comes  home  fro'  his  regiment." 
And  Sam  shook  his  head  gravely  when  he  said, 
"Better  be  gwine  by  dat  do'  while  I  locks  up 
de  house."  We  stepped  outside,  and  Sam  soon 
joined  us. 

As  Sam  had  by  the  questions  of  his  master 
been  hurried  into  preparations  for  our  departure 


UNDER   GOD'S  FLAG.  323 

sooner    than    was    contemplated,    our   supply   of 
rations  was  not  large. 

We  hurriedly  passed  through  the  streets  of 
Richmond,  and  then,  keeping  clear  of  the  roads, 
went  eastward  across  the  fields  and  through  the 
wooded  country  and  its  by-paths  for  an  hour  or 
so,  when  Sam  intimated  that  he  must  be  going 
back.  He  gave  us  before  leaving,  however,  very 
clear  directions  as  to  the  course  we  had  better 
take. 

On  parting  we  tried  to  give  him  what  money 
we  had,  but  he  would  accept  of  no  reward. 
,     We  shook  hands  with  him,  gave  him  our  ilames, 
and  asked  him,   if  he    ever  got  his  freedom,   to 
come  and  see  us. 

We  were  now  in  the  vicinity  of  Fair  Oaks,  not 
far  from  the  Richmond  and  York  Railroad,  and 
Grim  was  familiar  with  the  country  between  us 
and  the  Chickahominy.  Sam  had  told  us  that  the 
roads  were  being  watched  at  all  the  crossings. 

After  he  left  us  we  travelled  in  a  north-east- 
erly direction,  and  just  before  daybreak  stopped 
in  a  piece  of  swampy  wood  on  the  south  side,  and 
about  a  half  a  mile  from  the  Chickahominy. 

This  was,  as  Grim  said,  not  far  from  where  the 
bridge  had  been  built  in  1862,  during  the  Penin- 
sular Campaign. 

"I  know  the  ground  here,"  said  Grim;  "T  was 
all  over  it  in  the  Peninsular  Campaign,  and  we 
have  got  some  advantages  in  that." 


324  JACK  ALDEN. 

During  the  day  we  lay  concealed  in  the  thickets, 
where  we  could  see  those  who  might  approach, 
but  could  not  be  seen.  Once  during  the  day  I 
saw  two  Confederate  soldiers  going  towards  the 
Chickahominy;  and  again  a  colored  boy,  appar- 
ently a  servant,  passed  near  to  our  place  of  con- 
cealment. When  night  came  we  moved  towards 
the  river,  thinking  it  best  to  cross  at  the  first 
opportunity. 

"The  engineers  had  a  pontoon  bridge  here  in 
1862,"  said  Grim,  "and  just  below  we  helped  to 
build  a  log  bridge  through  the  swamp."  We 
went  'down  the  river  bank,  under  the  shadow  of 
the  bluff,  until  we  came  to  a  corduroy  way,  which. 
Grim  said,  was  the  approach  to  the  Woodbury 
bridge. 

"S-h-h!  what's  that  ?  "  whispered  Jones. 

It  was  a  sound  like  the  measured  tread  of  a 
sentinel  walking  his  post.  We  threw  ourselves 
upon  the  causeway;  and,  after  a  whispered  con- 
sultation, it  was  determined  that  Grim  should 
reconnoitre  the  position. 

It  was  some  fifteen  minutes  before  he  came 
back,  and,  giving  a  signal  for  silence,  beckoned 
us  to  follow  him  into  the  thickets  which  were  on 
all  sides  of  the  corduroy  approach  leading  to  the 
bridge. 

We  halted  in  a  place  where  we  were  out  of  the 
wet  of  the  swamp;  and  not  until  then  did  Grim 
inform  us  that  we  had  been  near  running  into  the 


UNDER    GOD'S  FLAG.  325 

guards  of  the  Confederates.  "The  rebs,"  said 
Grim,  "are  guarding  the  bridge.  It's  a  sort  of 
home  guard  from  Richmond,"  he  said,  "  and  we 
must  have  come  kind  o'  close  to  their  encamp- 
ment. I  heard  one  of  the  sentinels  asking  an- 
other if  it  wasn't  time  they  were  relieved,  and 
the  other  said  he  had  heard  the  relief  coming  at 
the  other  end  of  the  road.  They  must  have  mis- 
taken the  noise  we  made  for  the  relief.  These 
logs  are  too  good  a  conductor  of  sound,  I  guess." 

After  some  debate  we  concluded  to  move  down 
stream  to  a  narrow  place,  and  then  swim  the 
river.  But  this  brought  out  the  unpleasant  fact 
that  Jones  could  not  swim  a  stroke.  In  the 
course  of  an  hour  we  came  to  a  portion  of  the 
stream  which  was  narrow;  and  it  was  opposite 
here,  Major  Grim  declared,  that  Sumner's  corps 
had  been  encamped  in  1862,  just  before  the  battle 
of  Fair  Oaks. 

After  some  debate,  it  was  agreed  that  either 
Major  Grim  or  I  should  strip,  and,  with  his 
clothes  on  his  head,  cross  the  river.  As  Major 
Grim  knew  best  the  surroundings  on  the  other 
side,  we  thought  it  best  for  him  to  do  this.  He 
waded  in  to  see  if  it  could  be  forded,  and  then 
with  a  few  strokes  reached  the  northern  side. 

After  full  half  an  hour  he  came  back,  pushing 
before  him  three  pieces  of  board  and  a  cracker- 
box  ;  but  he  was  very  cold  and  shivering.  The 
boards,  he  said,  had  probably  been  used  by  our 


326  JACK  ALDEN. 

men  for  flooring  to  a  tent,  and  by  their  aid  Jones 
could  swim  the  river. 

After  Grim  had  got  warmed  up  by  exercise,  we 
stowed  our  clothes  in  the  cracker-box,  constructed 
a  kind  of  raft,  and  then,  by  wading  and  swim- 
ming, safely  reached  the  other  side  of  the  narrow 
river.  We  were  soon  dressed  and  on  our  way 
eastward,  travelling  single  file  on  what  the  Major 
declared  was  the  Williamsburg  road. 

It  was  not  far  from  twelve  o'clock  at  night 
when  we  crossed  the  river.  We  met  with  no 
accident  or  hindrance  worthy  of  mention  thence- 
forth, except  being  frightened  by  the  barking  of 
dogs  at  a  house  near  which  we  had  passed  about 
daylight. 

Grim  thought  we  were  now  near  New  Kent 
Court-House,  and  about  twenty  miles  from  Wil- 
liamsburg, near  where  we  had  been  informed  there 
were  stationed  United  States  troops. 

"We  are  through  the  worst  of  it  now,  but 
we've  got  to  keep  our  eyes  peeled,"  said  Grim, 
who  seemed  to  have  recovered  all  his  old-time 
vim  and  courage.  "If  we  are  seen  by  a  single 
white  person,  especially  a  woman,  we'll  be  gob- 
bled. The  women  are  the  worst  rebs  there  are  in 
this  country,  by  a  long  chalk." 

"You  can  reason  with  a  man,"  agreed  Jones; 
"but  a  rebel  woman  is  the  very  devil!  there  ain't 
no  reason  in  'em. 

"I   was   out   on    picket   here  once,"   said    he. 


UNDER   GOD'S  FLAG.  327 

"and  a  nice-looking  young  lady,  all  smiles,  in- 
vited me  to  dinner.  Well,  I  hadn't  eaten  four 
mouthfuls  before  I  smelt  a  rat,  and  found  that 
some  rebs  were  close  onto  me.  I  barely  got  out 
of  the  door  with  my  six-shooter  in  my  hand,  be- 
fore they  were  at  the  house,  and  then  for  a  min- 
ute or  two  you  could  have  played  dominoes  on 
my  coat-tail. 

"  Afterwards,  when  we  had  advanced  our  pick- 
ets beyond  her  house,  that  young  woman  jeered 
at  me,  and  said,  'Ye  wus  right  smart  in  gettin' 
_^out,  I  reckon,  Yank,  that  day.  What  made  ye 
suspect  me  ? ' 

" '  I  saw  the  devil  in  your  eye,  and  I  knew  you 
had  signalled,'  I  replied;  'and  before  I  had  got 
out  of  the  door  I  saw  the  Johnny  Rebs  skulking 
towards  the  house.'  "I  tell  you,"  said  Jones  em- 
phatically, "the  best  men  they've  got  here  are 
the  women;  they  are  clear  grit." 

During  that  day  we  had  taken  refuge  in  a  piece 
of  wood,  and  we  did  not  sleep  much,  as  it  was 
rather  cold.  We  had  eaten  all  our  provisions,  and 
started  out  at  night  hungry,  but  not  dispirited; 
for  we  thought  that  in  twenty-four  hours  we 
might  be  able  to  obtain  food  in  some  way.  And 
so  it  proved ;  for  during  the  night  \-  e  came  to  a 
corn-crib,  from  which  we  obtained  several  ears  of 
corn  apiece. 

Soon  after  this  we  halted  near  the  crossing  of 
two   roads,   one  of  which    Jones  declared  led  to 


328  JACK  ALDEN. 

Charles  City,  and  the  other  to  Williamsburg. 
We  were  suspicious  that  there  might  be  pickets 
here,  and  Grim  said  he  thought  that  we  would 
probably  find  them  on  all  the  cross-roads  here- 
abouts until  Williamsburg  was  reached. 

It  was  therefore  agreed  that  we  had  better 
keep  away  from  roads,  and,  travelling  north-east, 
e]ideavor  to  reach  the  York  River,  where  it  might 
be  possible  to  obtain  a  boat.  In  any  case,  as 
Major  Grim  represented,  there  could  be  found 
along  the  shore  of  the  river  at  low  tide  oysters 
and  hard  clams  for  sustenance.  If  we  could  ob- 
tain food,  time  was  of  less  consequence  than 
safety.  We  therefore  adopted  his  suggestion,  and 
travelled  all  that  night  across  the  fields  and 
through  the  woods. 

We  finally  halted  for  rest  in  a  dense  growth 
of  scrubby  trees.  Here  we  kindled  a  fire,  and 
parched  corn  and  ate  it;  for  we  were  ravenously 
hungry.  We  had  but  a  small  quantity  of  water 
left,  for  we  had  not  been  able  to  refill  the  two 
canteens. 

We  took  the  precaution  of  concealing  the  place 
where  we  halted  by  cutting  limbs  of  trees,  and' 
sticking  them  into  the  ground  around  us;  and  it 
was  well  we  did  so,  for  wliile  I  was  on  guard  and 
my  comrades  were  sleeping,  I  saw  three  Confed- 
erate soldiers,  with  muskets  at  "right  shoulder 
shift,"  coming  through  the  wood. 

"  I  seen  them  Yanks  in  yer'  not  over  two  hours 


UNDER   GOD'S  FLAG.  329 

ago,"  I  heard  one  of  them  say.  I  was  so  much 
excited  that  I  almost  held  my  breath.  They 
passed  near  where  I  was ;  then  I  awoke  Grim  and 
Jones,  and  told  them  what  I  heard. 

"  There  must  have  been  another  party  of  Yanks 
in  the  wood  here,  then ;  for  we  have  been  here 
since  morning,"  said  Grim,  looking  at  the  sun, 
"and  it  is  now  nearly  four  o'clock.  We'd  better 
lie  still,  however,  as  the  chances  are  they  won't 
come  back  this  way." 

But  there  was  no  more  sleeping;  and  we  were 
"very  anxious  until  darkness  came  on,  as  a  safe 
shroud  for  our  concealment  when  we  attempted 
to  travel  farther.  Even  then  we  advanced  with 
unusual  caution,  moving  silently,  in  single  file, 
through  the  fields  and  woods. 

It  was  quite  light  when,  in  the  early  hours  of 
the  morning,  we  reached  a  creek  running  nearly 
north  and  south,  and  were  moving  down  its 
easterly  bank,  when  we  came  to  a  whitewashed 
log  structure,  at  the  sight  of  which  Grim  gave  an 
exclamation  of  glad  surprise. 

"I  know  this  place  like  a  book!  "  he  exclaimed. 
"  We  used  to  get  oysters  and  fish  of  an  old  black 
fellow  here  in  '62.  I  wonder  if  he's  about  here 
now."  We  reconnoitred  the  hut  carefully;  but 
there  were  no  signs  of  life,  not  even  the  dog 
which  is  usually  found  at  such  huts. 

Major  Grim  knocked  at  the  door,  but  there 
was   no   answer.       We   pushed   aside   the  cotton 


330  JACK  ALDEN. 

cloth  stretched  over  a  hole  for  a  window,  and 
looked  in,  but  saw  nothing  but  darkness.  We 
were  just  turning  away  from  the  place,  by  a 
narrow  path,  when  we  almost  ran  over  a  black 
man  coming  towards  the  hut  with  a  basket  on 
his  shoulder. 

"Who  am  dat?"  the  man  inquired,  halting. 
"What  are  yer  doin'  yer' ?  " 

"We  are  Yankee  soldiers,"  I  replied;  "we  want 
something  to  eat." 

The  old  black  man  stood  peering  into  our 
faces,  when  Grim  said,  "  Uncle,  don't  you  remem- 
ber me  ?  I  used  to  buy  oysters  and  fish  of  you, 
and  I  wouldn't  let  the  boys  steal  your  chickens. 
Don't  you  remember  Captain  Grim  ?  "  The  old 
negro  advanced  doubtingly,  peering  into  Grim's 
face,  and  led  the  way  to  the  cabin,  struck  a  light, 
looked  at  Major  Grim  by  the  light ;  and  then,  as  if 
satisfied  with  the  inspection,  said  joyfully,  "  Yes, 
sar;  I's  'member  you,  Captain.  Golly,  sar!  ye's 
powerful  peaked,   do'." 

"We've  been  prisoners  of  war,  and  are  escap- 
ing," said  Grim  confidentl3^  "We  want  some- 
thing to  eat  now,  and  then  we  want  you  to  help 
us  down  the  river.  We'll  pay  you  all  the  money 
we've  got,  and  try  and  get  more  money  to  you 
when  we  get  into  our  lines." 

The  old  darky  said  nothing,  but  started  a 
fire,  cooked  corn-bread,  a  tin  pailful  of  oysters, 
and   some   coffee,   and  we   sat   down  and   had  a 


"  AVe  almost  ran  over  a  black  man. 
—  Pao:e  330. 


UNDER   GOD'S  FLAG.  331 

square  meal  before  we  inquired  where  he  got  the 
coffee. 

"Down  ter  York,"  he  replied.  "I  sells  fish, 
and  gets  what  provisions  of  coffee  and  Yankee 
traps  I  want  foh  the  grand  folks."  This  allusion 
was  to  his  master,  whose  house  was  about  half  a 
mile  from  his  hut. 

We  remained  in  the  vicinity  of  the  hut  all  day ; 
and  when  night  came  we  ate  one  more  hearty 
meal,  and  then  got  on  board  the  old  man's  scow 
boSt,  went  down  the  creek  to  the  York  River,  and 
before  morning,  without  incident  worthy  of  note, 
were  landed  at  Yorktown,  and  thanked  God  for 
his  infinite  mercy,  that  through  many  trials  he 
had  brought  us  once  more  in  safety  under  his 
flag-. 

We  were  warmly  received  by  a  young  officer  of 
the  guard,  who  escorted  us  to  his  quarters. 

We  were  royally  entertained  at  Yorktown,  and 
in  course  of  another  twenty-four  hours  were  sent 
to  Old  Point  Comfort. 


332  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

IN   WASHINGTON   AGAIN. 

On  arriving  at  Fortress  Monroe,  we  learned  that 
several  prisoners  who  had  escaped  by  the  Libby 
tunnel  had  preceded  us. 

This  daring  escape,  coming  at  a  time  when 
there  was  a  comparative  dearth  of  military  news, 
was  caught  up  by  the  newspapers,  so  that  some 
details  of  this  adventurous  affair  were  known  at 
almost  every  home  in  the  North. 

Illustrative  of  this,  before  I  took  the  steamer 
for  Washington,  I  had  written  to  my  mother  of 
my  arrival  within  our  lines,  incidentally  giving 
some  of  the  details  of  my  escape.  Three  days 
afterwards  —  even  before  I  had  heard  from  her  — 
I  saw  in  the  telegraphic  news  of  the  Associated 
Press  some  of  the  contents  of  my  letter,  which 
had  been  caught  up  by  enterprising  news-gath- 
erers, and  repeated  almost  verbatim. 

After  our  arrival  in  our  lines,  Major  Grim,  who 
up  to  this  time  had  shown  much  of  his  natural 
power  of  decision,  courage,  and  brightness, 
relapsed  into  a  condition  similar  to  that  in  which 
I  first  found  him  at  Libby. 


IN   WASHINGTON  AGAIN.  333 

The  surgeon  at  Old  Point  Comfort  attributed 
this  to  over-strained  nerves,  and  said,  "  I  think 
with  rest  and  nursing  he  will  come  out  all  right 
in  the  end." 

We  remained  at  the  fort  about  tAventy-four 
hours,  and  then  took  the  steamer  for  Washing- 
ton,  where  we  arrived  the  next  morning. 

I  was  hurrying,  with  Major  Grim,  towards 
Pennsylvania  Avenue,  when  a  mounted  officer, 
^vith  an  orderly  at  his  heels,  apparently  from  the 
Arsenal,  cantered  by  us.  I  had  taken  no  particu- 
lar notice  of  this  officer,  until  I  saw  him  halt, 
and  then  wheel  his  horse  and  come  back  to  us. 
At  first  I  thought  he  was  an  officer  of  the  provost 
guard  of  the  city,  and  had  mistaken  us  for  desert- 
ers, or  men  on  "French  leave."  It  was  not  until 
he  came  up  to  us,  stopped,  and  was  extending  his 
hand,  that  I  recognized  General  Blusterson. 

It  is  needless  to  say  I  was  very  glad  to  see  him. 

After  shaking  hands  with  me,  he  turned  to  my 
superior,  and  said,  "Major  Grim,  I  am  glad  to 
congratulate  you  on  your  safe  ;  rrival  within  our 
lines." 

The  major  shook  hands  with  the  general,  re- 
turned the  greeting  with  a  dull,  apathetic  look, 
saying,  "You've  got  the  advantage  of  me,  sir;  I 
don't  remember  where  I've  met  ^/ow." 

"He  seems  to  go  back  on  me,"  said  the  general 
in  a  low  tone,  half  in  anger  and  half  in  inquiry. 
"Is  he  miffed  over  that  Fredericksburg  affair?" 


334  JACK  ALDEN. 

I  explained  the  major's  condition  by  pointing 
to  my  head,  and  saying  in  an  undertone,  "Not 
quite  right  here,  General." 

The  general  walked  his  horse  by  our  side  until 
Ave  reached  Pennsylvania  Avenue.  There,  almost 
forcing  upon  me  the  loan  of  some  money,  saying 
I  would  need  it  before  I  got  my  pay,  he  invited 
me  to  visit  him  at  Willard's  Hotel,  where  he 
informed  me  he  was  quartered  with  his  daughter 
while  on  sick  leave,  and  on  business  connected 
with  the  manufacture  of  artificial  limbs. 

He  had,  so  he  said,  sold  his  patent  to  a  stock 
company,  but  still  retained  a  large  interest,  and 
also  a  handsome  royalty,   therein. 

"I've  got  quite  a  pile  out  of  it  already,  Alden," 
said  the  general  effusively,  "and  there  are  for- 
tunes in  it  still." 

As  the  hospital  where  Dr.  Milner  had  charge 
was  at  quite  a  long  distance,  I  called  a  carriage, 
and  rode  to  the  place,  as  I  was  anxious  not  only 
to  give  him  tidings  from  his  son,  but  also  to  inter- 
est him  in  Major  Grim's  peculiar  case.  Besides 
this,  Mrs.  Grim  was  probably  there,  and  —  well, 
never  mind. 

On  my  arrival  I  went  to  the  office  door,  where 
a  young  black  boy,  the  whiteness  of  whose  collar 
was  only  equalled  by  the  whiteness  of  his  eyes, 
answered  my  summons. 

"Is  Dr.  Milner  in?" 

"No,  sar, "  said  this  conglomeration    of   white 


IN   WASHINGTON  AGAIN.  335 

collar,  brass  buttons,  and  blackness ;  "  de  doctor 
am  out.  Will  you  leab  your  card,  sar,  or,  "  — 
Here  a  surprising  transformation  in  this  important 
personage  took  place,  which  at  first  I  was  at  a  loss 
to  understand.  His  eyes  bulged  out  of  his  head; 
he  began  to  hop  up  and  down  excitedly,  exclaim- 
ing, "Hi!  hi!  hi!  Golly!  Golly!  Glory!  It  am 
de  boss!  It  am  de  boss!  de  captain!  de  captain!  " 
^'Well!  "  I  exclaimed,  astonished  in  my  turn, 
"it's  you,   is  it.  Roily?" 

"I  'clar'  ter  gracious,  Cap'n!  you's  so  power- 
fully peaked,  I  done  gone  forgot  yo'  when  yo's 
com'  ter  dis  do'." 

The  doctor  soon  appeared;  and,  after  recogniz- 
ing in  tlie  shabby  persons  before  him  Major  Grim 
and  Captain  Alden,  greeted  us  in  his  very  kindly 
and  friendly  way,  seated  us  in  his  comfortable 
office,  and  without  ceremony  invited  us  to  make 
our  home  with  him  during  our  stay  in  Washington. 

I  called  the  doctor's  attention  to  Major  Grim  by 
a  gesture ;  for  he  sat  apathetically  looking  around 
the  room,  and  did  not  apparently  evince  any  in- 
terest in  the  doctor  or  the  place.  Evidently  he 
did  not  recognize  the  doctor  any  more  than  he 
had  General  Blusterson.  But  when  the  doctor 
set  down  his  case  of  instruments,  which  he  had 
brought  into  the  room  when  he  came  to  us,  opened 
it,  and  began  to  carefully  cleanse  and  readjust 
them,  I  saw  a  change  sweep  over  Major  Grim's 
face.     He  started,  rose  to  his  feet,  stared  —  then 


336  JACK  ALDEN. 

with  one  hand  to  his  head,  and  the  other  extended, 
with  the  sharp  cry  which  I  have  described  else- 
where, exclaimed,  "Dr.  Milner! — Doctor!  — I'm 
glad  to  see  you !  " 

The  doctor  gave  an  inquiring  look.  I  explained 
to  the  best  of  my  ability  in  pantomime ;  and  in  a 
moment  more  he  was  excited  by  professional  as 
well  as  friendly  interest  in  Major  Grim. 

I  relate  the  incident  of  Grim's  associating  Dr. 
Milner  with  his  instruments  and  his  old  wound 
minutely,  as  it  occurred,  because  at  the  time  it 
seemed  to  me  very  curious. 

The  doctor  took  me  aside ;  and  in  a  few  words  I 
told  him  of  Major  Grim's  injury  and  of  his  lapse 
of  memory,  and  besought  him  to  do  his  utmost 
to  restore  him. 

"Does  he  know  that  his  wife  is  here?"  asked 
the  doctor,  his  dark  eyes  showing  his  interest, 
while  his  reddish  hair  seemed  to  bristle  with  in- 
creasing energy  at  the  prospect  of  so  interesting 
a  case.      "  Does  he  remember  about  his  wife  ?  " 

"Apparently  he  does  remember  about  her,"  I 
said  hesitatingly ;  then  added,  "  It  is  curious,  how- 
ever, that  he  has  not  inquired  for  her  since  we 
came  here." 

"I  will  step  over  to  her  ward,"  said  the  doctor, 
"  and  bring  her  in.  And  you,  meanwhile,  prepare 
his  mind  for  it  the  best  you  can.  She  has  always 
been  sanguine  that  her  husband  would  return." 

While   the   doctor  was  absent  I   took  out  my 


IN   WASHINGTON  AGAIN.  337 

pocketbook  of  photographs,  which  I  have  before 
mentioned,  and  called  Grim's  attention  to  the 
picture  of  himself  and  wife. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  nodding  and  smiling;  "it's 
Mary's  picture.     She's  a  good  sort  of  a  girl." 

"She  is  here,"  1  explained.  "She's  been  here, 
m^  dear  Major,  ever  since  you  were  taken  pris- 
oner at  Fredericksburg!  " 

I  saw  a  look  come  to  his  face,  as  if  there  were 
something  he  did  not  understand;  but  at  that 
instant  the  doctor  came  in  Avith  Mrs.  Grim,  'who 
rushed  with  almost  frantic  pleasure  towards  her 
husband. 

The  major  recognized  her;  but  his  manner  was 
embarrassed,  and  showed  us  that  there  was  some- 
thing in  his  mental  attitude  that  we  did  not  yet 
comprehend. 

During  the  interview  between  the  major  and 
his  wife,  it  came  out,  bit  by  bit,  that  he  remem- 
bered her  as  Mary  Crandall,  but  had  no  remem- 
brance of  ever  being  married  to  her. 

"Leave  them  alone  together,"  said  the  doctor  in 
a  low  tone,  shaking  his  head  doubtingly,  "and 
perhaps  some  chord  of  association  will  be  touched 
which  will  restore  his  memory  of  her,  as  it  did  of 
me." 

So  we  left  them  together,  and  retraced  our  steps 
to  the  office.  I  then  asked  a  question  which  had 
been  on  my  lips  a  dozen  times  since  my  entrance 
into  the  hospital. 


338  -  JACK  ALDEN. 

"Doctor,"  I  said,  and  my  throat  was  very  dry 
and  my  voice  husky,  "where  is  Miss  May?" 

"May!  "  said  the  doctor,  facing  me,  "oh,  didn't 
I  tell  you  ?  She's  in  Baltimore,  visiting  the  Ray- 
monds. They  are  making  a  good  deal  of  fuss 
over  her;  but  I  guess  they  won't  spoil  her.  Ray- 
mond, you  know,  lost  his  money,  but  has  lately, 
by  the  death  of  his  uncle,  come  into  a  large  prop- 
erty again;  and  he  is  also  home  for  a  while  on 
leave  of  absence."  Then  he  added  with  a  laugh, 
"Guess  he  won't  come  back  till  May  does." 

My  heart  sank  within  me  as  the  doctor  added, 
looking  at  me,  "  Let  me  see,  —  May  is  about  three 
years  older  than  you  are.  She's  thinking  of  get- 
ting married  perhaps.  Raymond  is  no  match  for 
her  in  anything  but  family  and  property ;  but  his 
folks  put  on  a  good  deal  of  style,  —  old  family, 
you  know,  —  women  like  that,  —  well,  —  humph !  " 
and  the  doctor  turned  away  to  some  duty  to 
which  he  was  called. 

Every  word  of  the  doctor  had  pierced  me  like 
a  knife.  I  knew,  however,  that  what  he  had  said 
was  true,  and  that  May  Milner  was  a  person  likely 
to  be  influenced  by  fine  and  luxurious  surround- 
ings. 

I  then  proudly  determined  to  dismiss  her  from 
my  thoughts,  a  determination  more  easily  made 
than  kept. 

In  two  days  I  had  discarded  my  rusty  prison 
clothes  and  got  a  new  uniform,  which  had  been 


IN   WASHINGTON  AGAIN.  339 

fitted  to  me,  and  which,  by  contrast  with  the 
clothes  I  had  discarded,  made  me  feel  very  well 
satisfied  with  my  appearance. 

In  the  evening  I  called  at  Willard's  Hotel  to 
see  General  Blusterson.  Here,  also,  I  met  Miss 
Emily,  his  daughter. 

Miss  Emily  Blusterson  was  about  fifteen  years 
of  age,  with  grave  but  sympathetic  manners,  and 
a  demure,  Quaker-like  face,  that  made  her  appear 
older  by  several  years.  At  first  glance  I  was  in- 
clined to  think  her  very  plain;  but  after  a  few 
hours  this  plainness  seemed  to  disappear  in  an 
attractiveness  which  I  cannot  express. 

Afterwards,  in  endeavoring  to  recall  what  she 
had  said  during  the  evening,  I  found  that  she  had 
talked  but  little,  and  that  she  had  expressed  more 
interest  in  me  with  her  eyes,  which  were  very 
large  and  earnest,  than  by  any  verbal  utterances. 
She  had,  however,  led  me  to  talk  of  myself,  of  my 
escape  from  Libby,  and  of  my  other  military  ex- 
periences, and  had  been  a  very  attentive  listener. 
What  young  man  is  not  interested  in  a  young 
lady  who  leads  him  to  talk  of  himself? 

The  general  smoked,  discussed  the  military 
situation  for  a  while,  and  then,  as  I  talked  of 
myself  to  Miss  Emily,  took  a  nap  in  his  easy- 
chair. 

When  at  a  late  hour  that  evening  I  left  Wil- 
lard's, in  spite  of  the  shock  which  my  feelings,  or 
vanity  (calling  it  by  no  more  serious  name),  had 


340  JACK  ALDEN. 

sustained  by  learning  of  Miss  Milner's  visit  to 
Baltimore,  and  the  possibility  of  her  engagement 
to  Raymond,  I  found  that  I  had  not  only  passed  a 
very  pleasant  evening,  but  had  scarcely  thought  of 
Miss  May  during  that  time. 

My  visit  was  so  pleasant,  that  during  my  stay 
in  Washington  I  was  a  constant  visitor  at  the 
general's  —  ostensibly  to  inquire  about  a  leave 
of  absence  I  had  applied  for,  but  in  reality, —  but 
that's  another  story. 

Once  when  I  had  spoken  to  the  general  of  my 
former  comrade,  Addison  Key,  he  became  enthu- 
siastic. 

"  He  is  just  the  kind  of  a  boy  you  told  me  he 
was,"  said  the  general  in  his  positive  manner, 
—  true  as  steel;  and  he  has  rendered  very  great 
service  to  the  army." 

"Where  is  he  now?"  I  inquired, 

"That's  something  I  don't  know;  he's  gone  be- 
yond my  control.  I  haven't  heard  from  him  for 
two  months.  That  Sinclair?  Humph!  he  ought 
to  have  been  dismissed  the  service;  but  he's  on 
special  duty,  I  understand,  somewhere  here  in 
Washington,  —  got  transferred  after  the  Chancel- 
lors ville  fight.  Influence  saved  his  bacon,  my 
boy;"  and  the  old  general  shook  his  head  in  his 
humorous  manner,  as  he  added,  "Influence  can't 
make  a  mule  of  a  brass  button,  but  it  can  make 
an  officer  of  'most  any  kind  of  poor  stuff." 

"What   do   you  think  Addison  Key  is  up  to 


IN   WASHINGTON  AGAIN.  341 

now?"  I  inquired.  "I  don't  like  the  idea  of  liis 
being  a  spy." 

"I  offered  the  boy  a  lieutenant's  position,  and 
represented  that  it  might  be  risky  if  the  rebs 
caught  him.  But  he  said,  '  General,  *I  guess 
'most  everybody  that  ever  was  caught  by  them 
rebs  has  found  it  risky,  whether  he  was  in  the 
secret  service  or  any  other.  It's  in  the  rebel 
blood  to  make  themselves  disagreeable  to  people 
they  don't  like.'  I've  heard,"  said  the  general, 
"but  I  won't  vouch  for  the  truth  of  it,  that  Key 
has  lately  passed  an  examination  for  promotion  in 
one  of  the  new  colored  regiments;  and  like  as  not 
it  is  true,  —  can't  tell." 

At  last  my  leave  of  absence  was  granted.  I  had 
accounted  for  the  last  missing  tompion,  which,  as 
captain  of  the  company  I  was  held  to  be  account- 
able for  while  in  active  service,  having  obtained 
affidavits  which  would  blister  ordinary  paper  to 
account  for  their  non-appearance. 

I  went  several  times  to  bid  good-by  to  the  gen- 
eral and  Miss  Emily.  I  had  settled  my  accounts, 
obtained  my  ration  money  and  back  pay,  amount- 
ing in  all  to  what  I  considered  a  large  sum  of 
money. 

After  bidding  good-by  to  my  friends  in  the 
hospital,  I  paid  one  more  good-by  visit  to  the 
general  and  Emily,  —  Miss  Emily,  I  should  have 
said,  — and  took  my  departure  for  home. 

Roily   insisted  on  carrying  my  satchel  to  the 


342  JA  CK  ALDEN. 

depot;  and  then,  in  spite  of  my  protests,  I  found 
he  had  made  all  his  arrangements  to  accompany 
me,  even  to  buying  a  ticket  to  Boston.  I  was  so 
touched  by  this  evidence  of  the  boy's  attachment 
to  me  that  I  had  it  not  in  my  heart,  and  probably 
not  in  my  power,  to  repulse  him. 

When  1  arrived  in  Baltimore,  and  had  to  wait 
for  a  train,  after  a  transfer  across  the  city,  I  won- 
dered at  myself  because  I  had  no  inclination  to 
wander  around  the  city,  as  I  might  have  done  at 
another  time,  in  the  hopes  of  catching  a  glance  of 
Miss  Milner's  face. 

As  I  meditatively  drummed  on  the  car  window 
T/hile  en  route  for  New  York,  I  remembered  a  say- 
ing of  Sam  Slick,  that  a  woman's  heart  was  like 
a  turtle's  Qgg-,  and  that  one  dent  in  it  remained 
only  until  another  was  made.  And  I  wondered, 
as  I  meditated,  if  sex  had  anything  to  do  with 
the  truth  of  the  application. 


AT  HOME,  AND  OFF  AGAIN.  343 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

AT   HOME,    AND   OFF    AGAIN. 

Without  incident  worthy  of  note  we  arrived 
in  Boston;  and  before  taking  the  train  for  Center- 
boro'  I  went  np  to  call  on  Ivory  Rich. 

I  found  that  person  with  his  feet  elevated  on 
his  desk,  smoking  a  clay  pipe  as  if  he  had  taken  a 
contract  to  make  smoke  by  the  square  yard,  and 
had  but  little  time  to  fill  the  contract. 

He  rose  to  his  feet  as  I  entered,  and  said, 
"Waiting  for  the  boy  to  come  in;  time  to  shut 
up;  I'm  only  waiting  for  him.  What  can  I  do 
for  you,   sir?" 

Then  I  held  out  my  hand,  and  for  the  fii'st  time 
he  recognized  me. 

"You've  changed  a  good  deal,"  he  said;  "taller 
and  thinner,  and  some  older." 

I  was  indeed  so  worn  and  haggard  by  hardship, 
that  though  I  had  recovered  somewhat  from  the 
strain  of  prison  life,  I  still  bore  traces  of  it 
that  made  me  look  older  than  many  men  of 
thirty. 

"Better  go  out  home  with  me,"  he  said  heart- 
ily ;  "  I  want  to  talk  with  you  about  your  mother's 


344  JACK  ALDEN. 

estate  and  that  pirate,  Richard  Alden.  Better  go 
out." 

Seeing  me  look  at  Roily,  he  added,  "  Oh,  he  can 
come  along;  we  can  take  care  of  him.  He  will 
amuse  the  girls." 

I  learned  from  Ivory  Rich  that  a  lawsuit  to  re- 
cover the  value  of  the  Blusterson  notes,  as  he 
termed  them,  was  then  pending  in  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  of  Pilgrim  County,  to  which  Rich- 
ard Alden  had  put  in  a  counter  plea  of  their  being 
obtained  by  fraudulent  representations. 

"He's  got  an  up-hill  row  to  hoe,"  said  Rich 
aggressively;  "the  burden  of  proof  is  on  him, 
and  not  on  us.  He  hopes,  I  guess,  to  compro- 
mise by  having  us  throw  out  those  conditional 
notes.  We  can  prove,  if  we  have  to,  that  these 
conditions  have  been  fulfilled;  and  we  have  or- 
dered him  to  bring  his  books  into  court  to  prove 
it.     If  he  tampers  with  them,  we'll  fix  him." 

"You  think,"  I  said,  "we've  got  a  pretty  sure 
case,  then?" 

"Beautiful!"  he  ejaculated;  "clear  as  day- 
light!—  Your  uncle  knows  it.  He's  contrary, 
but  not  stupid;  and  since  we've  begun  it,  I  have 
heard  he's  been  taken  sick,  and  that's  a  pretty 
sfood  indication  he  feels  bad  over  it." 

"I'm  sorry  for  him,"  I  said.  "I  have  no  ill- 
will." 

"S'pose  you  haven't,"  said  Rich.  "By  the 
way,  how's  Blusterson?  I  see  he's  quite  a  gen- 
eral—  see  him  mentioned  in  the  papers." 


AT  HOME,  AND  OFF  AGAIN.  345 

I  told  him  all  I  knew  about  the  general,  and 
was  warm  in  his  praise. 

"Oh!  "  said  Rich,  "he's  a  pretty  good  man  un- 
less you  attempt  to  drive  him.  He  won't  stand 
much  of  that;  he  turns  on  it  like  a  tiger.  Get 
such  men  in  a  corner,  and  they'll  hurt  somebody 
besides  themselves.  He  sent  me  word  some  time 
ago  to  make  a  fair  settlement  with  those  State- 
street  sharks,  and  he's  settled  all  his  'industrial 
rat-trap  '  business  too  —  paid  up  like  a  man.  He's 
honest  enough  when  he's  prosperous.  I've  got 
an  affidavit  from  him,  too,  about  those  notes." 

"Isn't  it  better  to  make  a  settlement  with  uncle 
Richard  if  we  can,"  I  asked,  "rather  than  have 
the  case  come  to  trial?" 

"Of  course,"  said  Rich,  "if  he  will  make  a 
proposition  for  a  fair  settlement;  but  we  are  the 
ones  to  be  conciliated,  and  not  he.  It  isn't  good 
policy  to  offer  a  premium  for  cussedness ;  there's 
enough  of  that  article  in  the  world  without  that. " 

During  the  evening  I  had  to  narrate  my  experi- 
ences in  prison,  and  my  adventure  in  escaping 
therefrom. 

Rich  was  very  much  interested;  and  when  I 
told  him  of  Major  Grim  and  his  condition  when 
I  met  him  in  prison,  he  began  to  get  excited, 
and  to  walk  the  floor  of  the  room,  as  he  said 
hoarsely,  "What  men!  You've  suffered;  it  was 
rough  for  your  friend  Grim;  "  and  his  strong  fea- 
tures worked,  and  his  very  hair  seemed  aggressive 


346  JACK  ALDEN. 

as  he  added,  "  The  country  can  never  repay  men 
for  such  work  and  suffering.  Republics  are  un- 
grateful, they  say:  but  I  envy  you  your  experi- 
ences; they  are  something  any  men  might  be 
proud  of." 

In  the  course  of  the  evening  I  told  him  that  I 
had  drawn  about  a  thousand  dollars  of  back  pay 
and  ration  money,  which  I  was  going  to  put  into 
the  bank  for  my  mother ;  to  Avhich  he  said,  "  Well, 
that's  the  way  you  should  do.  Your  mother  has 
not  been  able  to  do  so  much  for  you,  but  she's  a 
good  woman;  and  I've  noticed  that  boys  who  have 
a  hard  time,  and  look  out  for  themselves,  often  do 
more  for  their  parents  than  those  who  have  been 
pampered.  When  my  father  died,  my  mother  had 
a  hard  time  to  give  us  a  chance.  That  chance 
wasn't  much.  I  came  down  here  with  not  more 
than  a  common-school  education,  and  studied  law; 
but  I  never  let  her  want  for  anything  I  could  get 
for  her  after  I  got  to  earning  money."  There  was 
a  moisture  in  his  eye,  and  he  cleared  his  throat  as 
he  said  it.  "She  was  good.  A  good  mother  is 
the  greatest  blessing  a  boy  can  have,  or  a  man 
either." 

The  next  morning  Roily  and  I  arrived  in  Cen- 
terboro' ;  and  I  am  not  sure  that  Roily 's  appear- 
ance did  not  create  more  of  a  sensation  than  did 
"the  Alden  boy." 

There  had  been  decided  changes  in  Centerboro'. 
Such  had  been  the  impetus  given  the  shoe  busi- 


AT  HO  ATE,   AND   OFF  AGAIN.  347 

ness  by  the  demands  of  the  war,  that  it  had  grown 
to  be  a  large  village. 

Richard  Alden,  so  I  was  told  before  I  had  been 
there  long,  had,  with  the  push  for  which  he  was 
noted,  been  employing  a  large  number  of  men 
in  his  new  factory,  but  was  then  sick,  and  that, 
too,  at  a  time  when  the  business  most  needed  his 
attention. 

It  is  needless  for  me  to  relate  how  joyful  was 
my  reception  by  my  dear  mother  and  sisters  and 
brothers,  or  how  the  neighbors  came  in  to  get  me 
to  tell  my  prison  and  army  experiences,  and  to  see 
"  that  genuine  contraband  that  Captain  Alden  had 
brought  from  down  South." 

The  village  G-azette  magnified  my  army  ser- 
vice by  a  very  flattering  "personal  notice,"  which, 
though  in  the  main  correct,  in  some  way  grated 
upon  me. 

I  found  the  disposition  to  make  a  pet  or  hero 
of  contrabands  was  common  here  as  in  some  other 
places  in  New  England  during  the  war. 

Before  Rolly's  appearance  in  town,  a  black 
man,  who  claimed  to  have  been  Jeff  Davis's 
coachman,  had  been  lionized  by  the  good  town's 
people;  and  this  disposition  to  make  much  of 
"real  Southern  niggers"  was  soon  illustrated  by 
the  treatment  of  Roily  in  the  village. 

Even  the  minister  was  not  proof  against  this 
temptation,  and  asked  Roily  to  ' '  speak  in  meet- 
ing." 


348  JACK  ALDEN. 

One  evening  I  happened  into  the  village  gro- 
cery, and  found  Roily  seated  on  a  cracker-barrel, 
surrounded  by  an  admiring  audience  of  villagers. 
Silas  Eaton,  who  was  supposed  to  know  a  great 
many  "pints"  about  war,  was  interrogating  him. 

"Why  don't  you  enlist,"  said  Silas  in  his  dog- 
matic, querulous  manner,  "  and  fight  for  your  race 
and  kintry?" 

"Why  doesn't  I  want  ter  fight?"  and  Roily 
showed  his  teeth  and  rolled  up  the  whites  of  his 
eyes  as  he  craned  his  person  towards  Silas,  like 
a  black  interrogation  point.  "Does  yer  take  me 
for  a  mule,  sar?  You  doesn't  know  nothin'  'bout 
fitin'!  'Clar'  ter  gracious,  gemmen!  I  reckon  ye 
neber  see  dem  rotten  shell,  big's  this  bar'l,  come 
along  fro  de  air,  jus'  like  a  big  catch  dog,  wif 
a  smoke  tail,  and  his  head  down,  and  growlin' 
and  worry,  worryin'  along,  jus'  sayin',  '  Get  out  of 
this!  I'm  after  y-e-r-r-r-r,  sar-r-r  !'  'Pears  like 
yer  neber  seen  de  po'  white  trash  toted  'way  fro' 
de  fitin',  wif  der  ban's  and  legs  and  heads  mashed 
off,  like  chickens  ready  fo'  de  stew?  No,  sar,  yer 
isn't,  or  yer  wouldn't  'spect  a  colored  man  ter 
mix  wi'  sich  foolishness,  sar!  " 

"But,"  interrupted  the  more  thoughtful  pro- 
prietor, Tinkham,  "you  black  men  who  want 
your  freedom  must  fight  for  it;  you  mustn't  ex- 
pect others  to  do  all  your  fighting." 

"Golly,  sar!  "  said  Roily,  "I'se  got  my  freedom 
by  runnin' ;  I  neber  gets  freedom  by  fitin\  sar. 


AT  HOME,  AND  OFF  AGAIN.  349 

Neber  liked  der  sound  ob  dem  bullets,  sayin',  '  Sur- 
r-r,  git!  '  Mighty  dangerous,  foolin'  round  mules, 
too ;  dey's  powerful  'structive,  sar,  dem  mules  is ; 
but  de  bullets  hiss  like  snakes,  dey  does.  I'se 
seen  'em ;  and  dem  shell,  when  dey  come  fro  de  air, 
keep  a  worry,  worryin, '  as  if  dey  was  lookin'  for  a 
nigger;  and  when  dey  'splode,  fright'nin'  a  man 
ter  def  'fore  dey  kill  him.  No,  sar;  got  freedom 
'nuf  tendin'  to  de  captain,  I  is  !  "  And  Roily 
tipped  his  hat  on  one  side  and  looked  aggressive. 

My  coming,  when  perceived,  put  a  stop  to 
the  conversation,  but  not  to  the  interest  with 
which  many  in  the  town  regarded  "Captain 
Alden's  nigger." 

My  eldest  sister,  when  I  expressed  the  belief 
that  Roily  would  be  spoiled,  teasingly  said  that 
she  believed  I  was  jealous  of  poor  Roily. 

He  made  himself  handy  around  the  house;  but 
he  annoyed  my  mother  by  waiting  on  me  at  the 
table  during  meals.  This  was  so  contrary  to  her 
simple  taste,  and  to  the  usage  of  an  ordinary  New 
England  household  of  that  time,  that  I  had  to 
put  a  stop  to  it.  Roily  expressed  his  disapproval 
of  this  by  saying  in  a  disgusted  tone,  "Dey  all 
works  here,  jest  like  common  trash,  sar." 

While  at  home,  my  regiment,  of  which  there 
remained  scarcely  enough  men  for  one  company, 
was  ordered  to  be  mustered  out  on  account  of 
expiration  of  term  of  service.  Those  who  had 
re-enlisted  were  to  be  consolidated  with  two  other 


350  JACK  ALDEN. 

regiments,  the  senior  officers  of  them  to  take  com- 
mand. This  threw  many  officers  of  the  regiment, 
including  myself,  out  of  a  command. 

While  I  was  debating  what  course  to  pursue, 
and  whether  I  should  re-enter  the  service,  my 
friend  Crandall,  who  had  been  commissioned  in 
our  old  regiment,  and  who  by  the  new  disposi- 
tion had,  like  myself,  been  left  without  military 
employment,  came  to  see  me. 

He  represented  that  a  good  many  of  our  men 
were  ready  to  re-enlist,  but  objected  to  being 
consolidated  with  old  and  rival  organizations. 

"I'd  go  if  I  knew  about  the  other  officers,"  I 
said;  "I  don't  want  to  fight  under  a  man  who 
knows  less  about  it  than  I  do." 

"Didn't  I  tell  you?  I  forgot!  Major  Grim  got 
home  a  week  or  so  ago.  He's  chipper  and  bright 
as  ever.  He's  all  right,  and  has  agreed  to  go  out 
as  colonel  if  they'll  commission  him.  He'll  be  a 
good  deal  better  at  the  front  than  when  reading 
about  it  in  the  newspapers,  and  fretting  because 
he  can't  take  a  hand;  'twill  do  him  good!  " 

I  was  glad  to  hear  of  Grim's  recovery;  and,  as  a 
man's  wishes  give  color  to  his  judgment,  I  agreed 
with  Crandall. 

I  also  entered  heartily  into  the  work  of  helping 
to  form  the  new  regiment. 

I  was  offered  a  commission  as  its  major,  but 
finally  accepted  that  of  senior  captain.  Major 
Grim  was  commissioned  as  its  colonel,  and   the 


AT  HOME,  AND  OFF  AGAIN.  351 

positions   of   lieutenant-colonel   and    major  were 
filled  by  men  of  comparatively  little  experience. 

Before  I  left  Centerboro'  I  was  one  day  passing 
my  uncle  Richard's  house,  where  he  was  confined 
to  his  bed  by  sickness.  My  aunt,  for  whom  I 
still  retained  affection,  ran  out  to  greet  me,  and 
with  tears  insisted  that  I  should  go  in  to  see  my 
uncle. 

"He  isn't  so  bad  as  he  sometimes  seems,  and 
is  fretting  because  you  are  in  town  and  he  can't 
see  you." 

.  I  was  not  a  little  suspicious ;  but  my  anger  dis- 
appeared when  I  saw  him  but  a  shadow  of  his 
former  self  as  I  had  known  him. 

After  talking  with  him  for  a  while,  he  said,  as 
if  the  subject  was  uppermost  in  his  mind,  "  I  wish 
that  lawsuit  was  out  of  court.  Why  can't  we 
settle  it?  It's  going  ter  cost  us  both  a  lot  of 
money,   and  the  lawyers'l  eat  us  up  alive." 

I  finally  told  him  that  I  was  willing  to  accept 
his  proposition;  namely,  that  he  would  give  us 
his  mortgage  against  the  estate  for  the  uncondi- 
tional notes.  The  value  of  the  conditional  notes 
should  be  settled  by  three  referees,  of  whom  Ivory 
Rich  should  be  one. 

"I  ain't  afraid  of  the  law.  Jack,"  he  said,  with 
a  cold  glitter  in  his  eyes;  "but  you've  got  the 
best  of  me,  and  I  might  as  well  acknowledge  it. 
I  never  thought  you'd  make  so  much  of  a  man." 

I  inferred  from   this  that  the   reason  Richard 


352  JACK  ALDEN. 

Alden  was  so  humble  in  his  acknowledgments, 
was  that  he  thought  it  cheaper  than  fighting. 
In  this  opinion  I  found,  long  afterwards,  that  I 
had  done  him  injustice,  and  with  all  his  natural 
hardness  and  sharpness,  he  had  a  sort  of  liking 
for  me,  because  I  had  always  resisted  instead  of 
yielding  to  him. 

I  communicated  with  Ivory  Rich,  and  he  came 
to  Centerboro'.  With  some  unimportant  changes 
in  the  agreement  the  suit  was  taken  from  court, 
and  settled  without  further  cost. 

"  I  ought  not  to  allow  the  suit  to  be  taken  from 
court,"  said  Ivory  Rich  sharply.  "Your  uncle 
would  have  gobbled  the  whole  estate  if  we  hadn't 
been  too  much  for  him.  It  was  by  no  good  will 
towards  you  that  he  hasn't,  either.  Under  the 
circumstances,  it's  best  to  settle  it,  however." 

Our  land  was  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  vil- 
lage, which  made  it  valuable;  and  one  of  the 
circumstances  that  to  Ivory  Rich's  mind  made  a 
settlement  best,  was  that  a  large  manufacturing 
establishment,  unknown  to  my  uncle,  had  offered 
a  large  price  for  the  Alden  place. 

The  sale  was  finally  made,  the  house,  orchard, 
and  garden  being  reserved  for  the  family  home. 
This  large  sum  of  money,  with  my  back  pay, 
was  by  Rich's  advice  put  into  United  States  gov- 
ernment bonds,  where  it  brought  over  seven  per 
cent  interest,  and  finally,  by  the  appreciation  of 
gold,  made  the  family  quite  rich. 


AT  HOME,  AND  OFF  AGAIN.  353 

While  this  was  taking  place,  recruiting  for  my 
company  went  forward  in  Centerboro'  and  in 
the  surrounding  towns ;  and  at  last,  in  June,  the 
ranks  of  the  regiment  were  full.  During  the 
same  month  we  went  into  barracks  at  Readville, 
where  the  colonel  joined  us. 

Mrs.  Grim  anxiously  confided  to  me  the  fact 
that  Dr.  Milner  had  advised  her  husband  against 
going  into  the  service  again. 

"Mr.  Grim,"  she  said,  "is  gloomy  and  queer 
at  times,  and  I  dread  the  excitement,  which  Dr. 
Milner  says  may  prove  too  much  for  him." 

I  learned  that  Miss  Milner  had  returned  home 
before  Mrs.  Grim  left  Washington,  and  seemed 
very  sorry,  when  she  learned  that  I  had  been 
there. 

I  confess  it  gave  me  a  flutter  around  the  heart 
when  Mrs.  Grim  said,  "I  think  she  cares  more 
for  you  now  than  she  does  for  that  Raymond 
feller." 


354  JACK  ALDEN. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

m   FRONT   OF   PETERSBURG. 

On  the  21st  of  June  we  landed  at  City  Point, 
on  James  River,  which  at  that  time  was  Grant's 
base  of  operations,  and  where  was  gathered  the 
material  of  his  vast  army. 

The  weather  was  dry  and  hot,  and  we  marched 
over  roads  knee-deep  in  dust.  The  boom  of 
cannon  and  the  shriek  and  groan  of  shell  which 
exploded  above  and  around  us,  showed  that  the 
enemy  was  in  position  nearly  parallel  to  our 
line  of  march. 

On  arriving  before  Petersburg,  we  encamped  in 
some  woods,  back  from  the  main  line  of  works. 

About  sundown,  and  before  we  were  well  set- 
tled, we  were  ordered  to  relieve  men  in  the  rifle- 
pits.  Thenceforward  we  alternated  forty-eight 
hours  off  and  forty-eight  hours  on,  in  this  duty. 

As  we  marched  down  a  sheltering  ravine,  in 
the  mellow  light  of  a  Southern  sundown,  we  were 
saluted  by  exploding  shell  and  hissing  bullets. 
Looking  towards  the  enemy,  we  caught  glimpses 
of  yellow  ridges  of  earth,  right  and  left,  which 
told,   to   men   accustomed   to   soldiering,    of   the 


IN  FRONT  OF  PETERSBURG.  355 

nearness  of  our  own  to  the  enemy's  intrenched 
lines. 

I  have  said  glimpses  advisedly;  for  even  then 
we  knew  that  a  full  view  of  the  enemy  was  peril- 
ous, hence  were  not  seeking  for  minute  partic- 
ulars. 

The  intrenchments,  behind  which  we  were 
soon  sheltered,  were  wide,  dry  ditches,  with  the 
soil  thrown  out  towards  the  enemy,  of  whose 
presence  we  had  plenty  of  evidence,  though  we 
could  not  see  them  plainly. 

Our  breastworks  were  from  eight  to  ten  feet 
high,  with  head-logs  on  top,  and  loopholes  un- 
derneath these  logs,  made  by  removing  the  soil. 

Peeking  through  these  I  could  see  one  mud 
heap  more  prominent  than  the  rest,  which  showed 
to  my  practised  eye  a  heavy  fort  in  our  innnediate 
front. 

Back  of  this  salient,  or  fort,  was  an  elevation 
of  land  from  behind  which  I  could  see  the  spires 
of  Petersburg,  which,  though  a  mile  and  a  half 
away,  was  within  easy  reach  of  heavy  artillery. 

Meanwhile,  shot  and  shell,  and  occasionally  the 
hiss  or  hum  of  a  bullet,  came  like  angry  protests  to 
our  presence.  On  the  other  side  of  our  intrench- 
ments, limbs  of  trees,  with  the  brush  end  towards 
the  enemy,  had  been  thrown,  forming  a  rough 
abatis  as  an  impediment  to  the  enemy,  should 
they  adventurously  attempt  to  charge  our  posi- 
tion.    These  had  not  been  fastened  to  the  ground. 


356  JACK  ALDEN. 

as  is  customary;  for  a  man's  life  in  such  service 
was  not  likely  to  be  of  long  duration,  for,  as 
Colonel  Grim  said,  "It  was  kinder  unhealthy 
over  t'other  side  of  the  dust-heap." 

That  night  was  starlight  and  warm;  and  as  I 
passed  down  my  company  line,  I  noticed  with 
satisfaction  that  our  new  men  had  lit  their  pipes, 
and  were  vigilant  and  soldierly.  They  were 
assuming  their  new  duties  without  excitement, 
and  in  a  matter-of-course  manner  beyond  what 
is  usually  seen  in  new  recruits. 

"The  men,"  I  said  in  an  undertone  to  Colonel 
Grim,  "seem  to  take  to  it  pretty  well." 

"Yes,"  replied  the  veteran;  "pretty  good  set 
of  men,  I  guess." 

"Intelligent  farmers'  and  sober  mechanics' 
sons,"  I  suggested,  "are  good  material." 

"Yes,"  assented  the  colonel,  withdrawing  his 
eye  from  a  loophole,  where  he  had  taken,  as  he 
called  it,  "a  peek  at  the  rebs;"  "but  I  kinder 
think  it  is  because  we've  got  a  good  sprinklin' 
of  old  vets  here."  Then  added  reflectively,  "I 
don't  know  but  a  few  old  soldiers  added  to  a  lot 
of  new  men  is  just  as  good  as  a  lot  of  new  men 
put  among  old  vets.  They  need  a  little  welding 
together  in  either  case;  fightin',  good  officers,  and 
pride  '11  do  that  after  a  little  while." 

"We  are  rather  comfortable  here  as  a  whole," 
I  said,  "  and  we  are  likely  to  get  fighting  enough 
for  educational  purposes ;  near  enough  to  the  rebs, 
anyway." 


IN  FRONT  OF  PETERSBURG.  357 

"Humph!  "  growled  Lieutenant  Crandall,  who 
overheard  tlie  remark,  "guess  we  be,  —  rather  too 
neighborly,  if  anythin',  forme." 

"Crowded  up  to  'em  rather  close, "  said  Grim 
with  a  grin;  "hope  they  won't  get  too  sociable 
before  we  get  broke  in." 

As  Grim  hitched  his  sword  farther  to  the  front, 
and,  after  giving  clear  instructions,  walked  down 
to  the  left,  I  could  not  but  admire  his  soldierly 
carriage  and  manner,  which  carried  confidence  to 
all  who  came  in  contact  with  him. 

"This  soldiering  is  doing  him  a  lot  of  good," 
said  Lieutenant  Crandall.  "It's  all  nonsense 
thinking  it  was  likely  to  throw  him  out  of  balance 
again." 

Colonel  Grim  seemed,  in  fact,  very  much  im- 
proved; his  eye  had  its  old  fire,  his  manner  a 
wonted  something  it  had  lacked  for  weeks.  Yet 
I  thouo-ht  of  Dr.  Milner's  suQ-o-estion  as  to  the 
uncertain  effect  excitement  might  have  on  him. 

During  the  night  there  was  but  little  exchange 
of  shot,  though  the  enemy's  artillery  kept  up 
a  "growling  and  a  barking,"  as  my  lieutenant 
termed  it. 

The  course  of  the  solid  shot  could  be  traced  in 
lurid  lines  against  the  background  of  the  darken- 
ing sky,  while  the  shell  traced  lines  similar  to 
those  of  rockets. 

As  daylight  came  on,  the  big  guns  "let  up,"  as 
Lieutenant  Crandall  called  it;   and  presently  bul- 


358  JACK  ALDEN. 

lets  began  to  drum  against  the  head-logs  and 
throw  up  little  smoke-like  splashes  of  dry  dust, 
and  whisper,  and  //ur,  and  zipp,  around  us  omi- 
nously. 

Our  new  men  began  excitedly  to  crowd  to  the 
loopholes,  disputing  for  a  chance  to  shoot. 

I  heard  Mike  Conlin,  the  former  drummer  of 
our  company,  but  now  a  corporal,  remonstrate 
with  them,  saying,  "  Oh,  now,  don't  be  crowdin' ! 
Faith!  it's  fierce  ye  fellers  are  now  for  fitin' ;  but 
ye '11  get  your  bellies  full  ov  it,  or  it's  Oi  that  am 
a  raw  recruit.  Toime  jeWe  been  at  it  a  month 
or  so,  ye '11  wish  ye  was  at  home,  under  yer  mith- 
er's  bed." 

I  could  not  help  smiling  at  this;  for  Mike, 
from  the  first  of  my  acquaintance  with  him,  had 
shown  so  much  of  an  Irishman's  fondness  for  a 
fight,  that  it  seemed  to  me  he  ought  not  to  censure 
any  one  for  a  like  disposition. 

Our  breakfast,  which  was  cooked  in  the  rear, 
was  brought  up  to  us ;  and  about  that  time  there 
was  a  lull  in  rifle  practice,  as  if  the  enemy  were 
similarly  engaged. 

While  the  men  were  eating.  Roily  cautiously 
crept  into  the  trench  with  my  breakfast,  and  some 
of  our  new  men  laughed  and  jeered  at  him  for 
being  "scared." 

"I'se  no  'casion  ter  get  hit,  sar!"  said  Roily 
to  one  of  them.  "I'se  seen  heaps  better'n  you 
alls  killed.     De  boss  and  me  seen  mo'  fitin'  dan 


"  The  man  reeled  and  fell  into  the  trench." 
—  Paoje  359. 


IN  FRONT  OF  PETERSBURG.  359 

eber  you  alls  heard  on.  We's  at  Freds' bug,  we 
war,  and  a  right  lot  mo'  fights  whar  de  rotten 
shell  an  de  big  shot  an  de  small  shot  killed  a 
heap  o'  trash  like  you  alls.  Seen  'em  wifout  dar 
close  on,  like  dead  dogs,  sar!  Duz  yer  heah  me? 
I  takes  care  myse'f,  I  duz." 

During  the  lull  in  the  firing  which  for  a  time 
followed  breakfast,  one  of  our,  what  Crandall 
called,  "high-priced  bounty  men"  jumped  on  the 
parapet,  and  swung  his  hat  towards  the  enemy 
with  a  shout  of  bravado. 

"Git  down!"  I  heard  Colonel  Grim  half  hu- 
morously order.  "  Git  down,  I  say !  You  cost  the 
government  a  thousand  dollars  apiece,  and  I'll 
be  plagued  if  I'll  have  you  shot!  You're  too 
expensive!  " 

Before  the  words  were  fully  out  of  the  colonel's 
mouth,  and,  as  if  to  emphasize  them,  the  man 
reeled  and  fell  into  the  trench  with  a  crash.  He 
had  been  shot  through  his  head.  "There,"  said 
Colonel  Grim  severely,  "the  government  has  lost 
a  thousand  dollars,  and  we  have  lost  a  good  man 
—  all  for  nothing." 

.  It  was  not  long  before  our  men  learned  that 
while  shot  and  shell  could  be  seen  by  keen-sighted 
men,  and  dodged,  as  Lieutenant  Crandall  said, 
"  almost  as  easy  as  a  base-ball  "  the  death- whispers 
of  bullets  were  not  heard  by  their  victims  until 
too  late  for  safety. 

During  the  day  two  of  our  men,  who  had  care- 


360  JACK  ALDEN. 

lessly  exposed  their  heads  above  the  top-logs,  were 
shot;  and  when,  after  forty-eight  hours'  duty  in 
the  trenches,  we  were  relieved  from  duty,  we  had 
lost  eight  men.  This  loss  was  not  many  for  one 
day;  but  a  loss  correspondingly  large  along  the 
whole  line  would  have  soon  destroyed  the  army. 

Here  let  me  say,  that  the  loss  among  new  men 
on  any  line  of  dangerous  duty  is  always  larger 
than  among  veteran  soldiers,  and  that  with  less 
effective  service.  An  old  soldier  learns  to  pro- 
tect himself,  does  not  expose  himself  to  danger 
needlessly. 

At  last,  after  forty-eight  hours,  we  were  re- 
lieved from  duty,  and  then  for  the  first  time  got  a 
good  opportunity  to  refresh  ourselves  by  "wash- 
ing up,"  and  by  more  sleep  than  could  be  obtained 
by  what  Crandall  called  "cat-naps." 

I  have  chronicled  thus  minutely  our  fii'st  experi- 
ence on  duty  in  the  trenches,  because  first  duty  in 
such  a  place  is  most  vividly  remembered,  and  also 
because  all  subsequent  duty  here  generally  re- 
sembled that  I  have  here  described. 

As  the  reader  may  suppose,  on  my  arrival  on 
these  lines  I  hunted  up  m}^  old  army  acquaint- 
ances. On  inquiry,  I  learned  that  General  Blus- 
terson  had  been  transferred  to  duty  with  the  Fifth 
Corps,  and  was  in  command  of  a  brigade.  I  had 
written  to  him  of  my  arrival,  and  was  attempting 
to  obtain  leave  of  absence  long  enough  to  visit 
him,  when,  one  afternoon  in  July,  he  rode  into 


IN  FRONT  OF  PETERSBURG.  361 

camp,  inquiring  for  me,  dismounted,  and  came 
into  the  colonel's  quarters,  where  I  happened  to 
be,  "for  a  rest  and  a  smoke,"  as  he  said, 

"Very  comfortable;  good  cigars  too,"  said  the 
general  complacently,  after  the  first  greeting  was 
over,  and  he  was  seated  on  a  barrel-chair,  and  had 
lighted  his  cigar.  "  Well, "  he  continued,  "  glad 
to  see  you  at  the  front,  gentlemen.  We  are  hav- 
ing lively  times  enough;  but  it's  better  than 
marching  all  night,  and  fighting  all  day,  as  we  did 
in  the  Wilderness.  I  came  into  the  army  expect- 
ing to  do  my  share  of  the  fighting,  but  the  over- 
land campaign  suited  me  too  well." 

"I  suppose,"  I  ventured  to  say,  "the  enemy 
were  just  as  sick  of  it  as  our  army  was.  General." 

"I  don't  know  about  that.  It  was  a  failure," 
said  the  general,  shaking  his  head,  smiling  in  his 
old  manner  of  decision  and  humor.  "  We  lost  in 
the  battles  from  the  Rapidan  to  the  James  nearly 
sixty  thousand  men ;  many  of  them  our  best  offi- 
cers and  best  soldiers.  You  remember  Lieutenant 
Standish?  As  good  and  as  brave  an  officer  as 
there  was  in  the  army.  He  was  killed  in  an  at- 
tack on  the  enemy's  fortified  line  at  Cold  Harbor. 
It  was  little  short  of  murder  in  the  first  degree. 
Such  men  can't  be  replaced.  It's  against  com- 
mon-sense, and  the  rules  of  war  too,  to  attack  po- 
sitions reconnoitred  and  intrenched  by  an  enemy, 
as  we  did  in  that  campaign." 

"What  are  we  going  to  do  here,  General?"  I 


362  JACK  ALDEN. 

interrogated;  "we  don't  seem  to  get  an3rwhere  as 
I  see." 

"  Here  ?  "  ejaculated  the  general,  and  his  brows 
beetled  and  his  jaws  came  together  with  a  satis- 
fied snap,  which  showed  me  before  he  spoke  that 
he  was  well  pleased  with  the  situation.  "See 
here,  we've  got  the  vice  turned  on  the  rebs; "  and 
the  general,  taking  out  a  pocket-map,  and  point- 
ing to  it,  said,  "There,  don't  you  see  those  turn- 
pikes and  railroads  running  into  Petersburg  like 
spokes  to  the  hub  of  a  wheel?  Well,  Lee  feeds 
his  army  by  those.  Grant  has  got  hold  of  some 
of  these  roads  already,  and  when  he  gets  all  of 
them,  Richmond  will  fall;  for  the  Confederate 
army  will  starve,  or  come  out  from  their  intrench- 
ments,  and  retreat  or  fight  us.  Our  system  of 
strong  defences  is  to  enable  the  front  to  be  held 
with  a  part  of  the  army,  leaving  a  large  portion 
of  it  for  manoeuvre  or  attack  on  their  left  flank. 
Meanwhile,  you  may  see  their  lines  forced  right 
here  in  your  front  soon." 

"I've  heard  a  good  deal  about  a  mine  our  men 
are  digging  near  us,"  I  said.  "I  know  several 
officers  who  say  they  are  old  Pennsylvania  coal- 
mine bosses  and  superintendents,  who  are  at  it." 

"Supposed  you'd  heard  of  it,"  said  the  general, 
blowing  out  a  puff  of  smoke  like  an  exploded 
shell.  "Burnside's  officers  don't  keep  very  close 
mouths." 

"Heard  one  of  'em  say,"  I  continued,    "that 


TN  FRONT  OF  PETERSBURG.  363 

they  had  it  mined  under  that  fort  in  our  front,  — 
the  Elliot  Salient,  they  call  it,  —  and  that  when 
at  work  they  could  hear  the  rebs  tramp  and  rattle 
things,  and  throw  planks  down  above  their  heads 
in  the  fort." 

"  Humph  1"  grunted  the  general,  blowing  out 
another  puff  of  smoke  still  more  emphatically. 
"Well,  I've  just  been  up  with  some  other  officers 
to  look  over  things.  The  mine's  a  good  one;  but 
they'll  need  some  picked  troops  after  it's  exploded, 
to  act  decisively,  in  order  to  gobble  Petersburg! 
Burnside's  a  good  man,  brave  as  a  lion,  but  too 
slow  and  muddled  for  such  work."  Then,  as  if  he 
had  said  too  much,  he  added,  "Mum's  the  word!  " 

I  turned  the  conversation  by  asking  if  he  knew 
where  Add  was. 

"No,"  he  said;  "but  he  came  to  me  about  two 
months  ago  for  recommendations  for  a  commis- 
sion. I  don't  know  where;  haven't  heard  from 
him  since." 

The  next  morning  after  this  conversation,  when 
we  went  on  duty,  I  examined  our  front  with  some 
speculative  interest,  and  saw  that  if  a  breach  was 
inade  in  the  enemy's  lines,  a  force  might  be 
lodged  on  the  crest  of  a  hill,  behind  which,  as 
I  said  before,  I  could  see  the  spires  of  Peters- 
burg within  ordinary  cannon  range. 

Our  lines,  at  the  point  at  which  we  were  on 
duty,  bulged  out  in  a  curved  form  towards  the 
enemy.     Under   the  Elliot    Salient   before    men- 


364  JACK  A  WEN. 

tioned  a  mine  was  almost  in  readiness  to  be  ex- 
ploded or  "sprung." 

Two  weeks  passed,  and  I  had  several  times  seen 
the  mouth  of  the  mine,  the  soil  excavated  from  it 
being  concealed  from  the  vigilant  enemy  by 
bushes  stuck  into  the  ground. 

Our  advance  line  was  on  the  crest  of  gradually 
ascending  ground,  and  this  ascent  continued  to- 
wards the  enemy.  In  our  rear  was  a  ravine,  and 
back  of  this  the  wood  in  which  was  our  encamp- 
ment. A  covered  way  was  constructed  from  the 
wood  to  this  ravine,  which  enabled  us  to  approach 
the  front  without  exposure  to  the  Confederate  ar- 
tillery. 

In  front  of  the  covered  way,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  ravine,   was  the  mouth  of  the  mine. 

For  two  weeks  following  the  conversation  with 
General  Blusterson,  which  I  have  given,  but  little 
was  said  about  the  mine;  and  I  supposed  at  last 
that,  like  many  other  experiments  in  the  army,  it 
had  been  abandoned. 

During  this  time,  however,  the  regular  routine 
of  the  army  went  on,  —  pay-rolls  were  made  out, 
requisitions  for  clothing  and  food  made,  camps 
policed,  men  di'illed,  descriptive  lists  made  out 
and  forwarded,  with  sick  and  wounded  men,  to 
the  hospitals. 

The  morale  of  the  army  was  good,  and  our  food 
was  improved  by  the  attention  paid  our  men  by 
the  Christian  and  Sanitary  Commissions. 


IN  FRONT  OF  PETERSBURG.  365 

About  the  25th  of  July  there  was  much  riding 
of  orderlies;  and  once  I  saw  General  Grant  and 
his  staff,  on  their  way,  it  was  said,  to  General 
Burnside's  headquarters. 

"I  really  think,"  I  heard  one  of  our  vets  say, 
"that  they  are  fussing  about  that  mine  some 
more."     I  thought,  too,  that  it  might  be  so. 

We  were  formed  for  an  assault  on  the  morning 
of  July  30,  before  dawn.  Colonel  Grim  walked 
down  the  line,  his  eyes  gleaming  with  excitement, 
and  his  whole  attitude  that  of  a  man  ready  to  act 
quickly.  At  about  half-past  four  there  was  a 
dull,  jarring  explosion  which  shook  the  ground. 

"  There  she  goes !  "  exclaimed  Colonel  Grim 
excitedly,  "right  up  under  Johnny  Reb's  fort, 
sure's  I'm  alive!     We'll  toast  them  now!" 

A  dense  cloud  of  smoke,  through  which  blazed 
ignited  powder,  sprang  hundreds  of  feet  into  the 
air,  hung  suspended  for  a  moment,  and  then  fell 
back.  A  black,  sulphurous  smoke  overhung  the 
spot,   and  then  slowly  drifted  away. 

The  terrible  force  of  the  explosion  was  such 
that  frao-ments  of  cannon  and  o-un-carriages  from 
the  rebel  fort  were  hurled  several  hundred  feet 
within  our  lines. 

"That's  a  good  one,  for  the  Confederacy!"  I 
exclaimed. 

Colonel  Grim  turned  slowly  towards  me,  with- 
out remark,  with  a  puzzled  look  on  his  face,  and 
with  one  hand  to  his  head,  as,  simultaneously  with 


366  JACK  ALDEN. 

the  explosion  of  the  mine,  our  artillery  (which 
had  been  greatly  strengthened  at  this  part  of  the 
line)  opened  on  the  enemy  as  if  with  a  roar 
of  anger!  Every  brazen  throat  belched  and  thun- 
dered. 

We  expected  orders  for  an  immediate  assault, 
for  the  enemy  seemed  stupefied,  and  for  a  long 
time  made  no  demonstration  for  a  defence.  We 
learned  afterwards  that  the  utmost  consternation 
and  confusion  had  been  produced  on  the  foe,  and 
that  they  had  abandoned  their  guns  in  the  in- 
trenchments  for  several  hundred  yards  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  mine. 

An  hour  elapsed  before  they  recovered  suffi- 
ciently to  plant  artillery  on  the  right  and  left  of 
the  crater  made  by  the  mine.  It  was  an  hour 
before  getting  orders  for  a  forward  movement; 
and  by  that  time  the  enemy  opened  with  artillery 
on  the  right  and  left  of  the  position,  besides  open- 
ing a  plunging  artillery  fire  from  their  front. 


THE  ASSAULT  AND   TRUCE.  367 


CHAPTER   XXXIV. 

THE   ASSA.XJLT    AND   TRUCE. 

The  Confederates  on  our  front  were  paralyzed 
for  a  time  by  the  terrible  volcano-like  explosion 
beneath  their  feet.  Had  our  battalions  rushed 
forward  at  once  into  the  breach  made  in  their 
lines,  the  result  must  have  been  decisive.  But  a 
vexatious  delay  followed  the  explosion,  in  which 
precious  time  and  opportunities  were  lost. 

"Burney  is  a  good  and  brave  man,"  said  one  of 
our  veterans,  "  but  it  always  did  take  him  a  good 
while  to  turn  over." 

Meanwhile  the  enemy,  after  an  interval  of  si- 
lence, opened  a  gradually  increasing  fire  on  the 
right  and  left  of  the  "crater,"  or  big  hole  caused 
by  the  explosion. 

Then  we  heard  the  hurrahs  of  our  men  going 
forward  to  the  assult. 

While  we  were  awaiting  orders  to  charge.  Col- 
onel Grim,  pulling  at  his  beard  and  mustache, 
walked  in  the  rear  of  our  regiment,  as  Sergeant 
Osgood  said,  "like  a  caged  lion." 

"He's  narvous, "  said  Crandall,  looking  towards 
him  with  an  anxious  look;  "kinder  shook  up,  I 
guess." 


368  JACK  ALDEN. 

Finally  Colonel  Grim  with  a  few  sharp  words 
gave  the  order,  and  the  regiment  moved  forward. 

I  saw,  as  we  moved  at  double-quick,  the  ragged 
"  crater  "  sixty  feet  deep  and  a  hundred  yards  long, 
in  which  a  confused  jumble  of  our  men  had  taken 
refuge. 

The  shot  from  the  enemy  meanwhile  struck  our 
ranks  on  both  flanks,  while  a  plunging  fire  burst 
from  their  front. 

They  had  recovered  from  their  panic,  and  we 
had  missed  the  time  for  profiting  thereby. 

Amid  the  bursting  of  shell  and  ping  of  bullets, 
we  sheltered  ourselves  on  the  reverse  side  of  the 
enemy's  intrenchments,  and  the  fragments  of  the 
"Elliot  Salient,"  which  had  mostly  been  blown 
into  the  air.  The  shell  and  shot  made  dismal 
music,  while  whispering  messengers  of  death  from 
rifles  were  constantly  thinning  our  ranks. 

"Keep  the  men  at  it,"  I  said  to  First  Sergeant 
Osgood. 

"  Well,  they  are  doing  well.  See,  they  are  do- 
ing like  the  vets,  trying  to  make  over  this  side  of 
the  breastworks,  and  they  keep  up  a  popping  at 
the  rebs  on  t'other  side  too." 

"Yes,"  I  replied;  "pretty  sharp  work,  fighting 
men  within  arm's  length."  For  by  this  time  the 
Confederates  had  got  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
intrenchments,  and  muskets  protruded  through 
every  opening,  almost  in  our  faces.  But  we  soon 
made  it  too  hot  for  them,  and  the  fire  in  part  died 


THE  ASSAULT  AND   TRUCE.  369 

down,  but  broke  out  spasmodically  here  and  there 
along  the  line. 

It  was  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  when 
the  black  division  charged.  I  have  since  heard 
much  said  of  the  cowardice  of  these  men.  But 
although  I  was  at  that  time,  like  many  others  in 
the  army,  prejudiced  against  their  employment,  I 
must  confess  that  their  conduct  was  good. 

"■They're  going  in  in  pretty  good  style,''  I  said 
to  Crandall. 

"Ain't  no  use  denying  that,"  said  my  lieu- 
tenant, who  didn't  like  what  he  called  "nigger 
equality;  "  "shouldn't wonder  if  they'd  got  there, 
if  they'd  gone  in  fu'st.  See  that,"  he  continued; 
"  that  flag's  been  down  twice ;  there  it  goes  again ! 
I  didn't  think  they  had  it  in  'em!  They  are  well 
led." 

They  had  met  the  converging  fire  of  artillery, 
under  which  they  still  went  forward  for  a  while, 
and  then,  like  those  who  had  preceded  them,  went 
to  pieces  bit  by  bit  under  the  terrible  fire ;  and 
finally  the  men,  every  one  for  himself,  began,  like 
a  scattering  flock  of  sheep,  to  seek  safety.  Some 
took  refuge  in  the  crater,  others  behind  the  same 
breastworks  as  ourselves. 

"They  did  well,"  said  Colonel  Grim.  "When- 
ever I  see  a  brave  thing,  something  comes  up  in 
my  throat  and  chokes  me,  as  it  did  when  those 
black  fellows  went  in." 

I  looked  curiously  at  my  colonel.     There  was 


370  JACK  ALDEN. 

something  unusual  in  his  manner;  what  did  it 
portend  ? 

The  fighting  was  again  becoming  fierce  in 
places  along  the  intrenchment. 

"They  can't  drive  us  out,"  said  Lieutenant 
Crandall  decisively ;  "  they  haven't  got  it  in  their 
boots ; "  and  then  exclaimed,  pointing  to  the 
right,  "  Them  black  fellows  stand  up  to  the  rack 
pretty  well  there !  Jerusalem !  that  young  feller's 
seen  fighting  before!  " 

I  glanced  in  the  direction  he  had  pointed,  and 
saw  near  an  embrasure  a  stalwart  young  officer 
with  drawn  sword,  directing  his  men.  His  cap, 
from  which  escaped  curly  blond  locks,  was  on 
one  side  of  his  head,  his  face  was  blackened  with 
powder. 

As  I  looked,  a  rebel  officer  sprang  out  on  the 
other  side  of  the  opening,  pointing  a  revolver 
close  to  the  young  fellow's  curly  head,  and,  as  I 
learned  afterwards,  called  on  him  to  surrender. 

With  lightning  rapidity  he  struck  up  the  revol- 
ver with  his  left  hand,  and  with  his  right  ran  the 
Confederate  through  the  body  with  his  sword. 
The  brave  Confederate  fell  back  with  the  sword 
on  which  he  was  impaled  on  the  other  side  of  the 
parapet,  beyond  reach. 

Our  division  general,  who  had  seen  the  act  of 
the  brave  young  officer,  in  a  spirit  of  chivalry  un- 
buckled his  sword,  and  said,  "  Put  it  on ;  you  are 
as  worthy  to  wear  it  as  any  man  I've  seen  to-day!  " 


THE  ASSAULT  AND   TRUCE.  371 

All  this  occurred  in  less  time  than  I've  taken 
to  tell  it,  and  was  but  one  of  the  kaleidoscopic 
changes  of  the  fight. 

The  young  officer  turned  towards  the  general 
when  he  was  addressed;  and  then  I  saw  that  it 
was  my  friend  Add  Key.  I  had  only  time  to 
exchange  salutations. 

Our  men  were  calling  for  cartridges,  and  fight- 
ing hard  to  hold  their  position.  We  held  the 
line  until  night,  and  then  in  the  darkness  got  out 
of  the  intrench ments  as  best  we  could,  and  were 
glad  to  get  to  the  rear.    We  had  lost  very  heavily. 

Add  came  with  me  to  the  rear,  and  halted  for  a 
time  near  by  us,  Avhile  collecting  some  of  his 
men. 

"What  is  your  regiment?  "  I  inquired. 

"  The    Massachusetts  st ;  and   they   are 

mighty  good  men,  if  they  are  a  little  off  color," 
said  Add.  "I  led  the  regiment;  lieutenant-col- 
onel, you  see ;  and  I  ain't  ashamed  of  the  boys  or 
their  work,  if  they  be  black!  " 

Lieutenant  Crandall,  who  was  present,  said,  as 
he  shook  hands  with  his  former  comrade,  — 

"  Well,  you  went  in  in  good  shape ;  but  I  prefer 
white  men  in  mine." 

" 'Tain't  what's  outside  of  a  man,"  said  Add; 
"it's  what's  in  him,  that  makes  a  good  soldier. 
A  darky  can  stop  a  bullet." 

"Yes,"  I  said  bitterly ;  "  'most  any  color  is  good 
enough   for  that   in   such   a   miserably  managed 


372  JACK  ALDEN. 

affair  as  the  one  we've  been  in.  I'm  glad  you 
have  distinguished  yourself,  Add;  and  whatever 
your  men  are,  no  officer  in  the  line  was  braver 
than  you.  I  wish  you  were  in  command  of  white 
troops,  though." 

"Well,  I  ain't;  and  some  of  the  men  in  the 
white  regiments  are  mighty  poor  stuff  now. 
There's  that  regiment  Colonel  Cross  used  to  com- 
mand; used  to  be  one  of  the  best  regiments  in 
the  field:  it's  filled  up  with  trash.  They  desert 
so  fast  that  the  rebs  sent  word  over  t'other  day, 
that  as  they  had  most  of  the  men  over  there, 
they'd  better  send  over  their  regimental  flag." 

"Yes,"  said  Sergeant  Osgood;  "I  was  over 
there  once  when  they  had  a  roll-call,  and  some 
of  them  fellows  had  enlisted  under  nigger  names 
too,  such  as  '  Johnnie  Boker  '  and  '  Jim  Crow, '  — 
names  they  couldn't  remember  themselves,  for  I 
saw  them  look  in  their  hats  to  make  sure  to  an- 
swer to  the  right  names." 

"I'll  admit,"  growled  Crandall,  "that  a  man 
who  don't  wear  his  own  name  hain't  got  pride 
enough  to  make  a  good  soldier." 

The  reader  will  see  that  Add  was  much  the 
same  as  ever;  yet  there  was  a  change.  Under  the 
jovial  exterior  there  was  a  stratum  of  more  ear- 
nestness and  resolution,  and  his  face  in  repose 
showed  more  dignity  and  thoughtfulness  than  it 
had  formerly  expressed. 

There  was  something  besides  intellectual  devel- 


THE  ASSAULT  AND    TRUCE.  373 

opment  in  this,  — something  which  I  did  not 
understand. 

I  mentioned  to  him  this  change ;  and  his  reply 
was,  "  The  change  that  you  see  in  me  is  the  great- 
est one  of  my  life.  I  had  been  through  many 
perils  thoughtlessly,  and  had  never  acknowledged 
God's  hand  in  it.  I  now  see  that  he  has  pre- 
served me,  and  every  day  of  my  life  I  acknowl- 
edge him." 

This  was  said  in  a  low  tone,  doubly  impressive 
for  its  simplicity,  and  was  so  free  from  affectation 
and  cant,  that  it  impressed  me  very  deeply.  It 
showed  how  Christ  gave  all  the  transfiguring  influ- 
ences of  manhood  and  sweetness  and  dignity  to 
those  who  caught  but  a  spark  of  his  true  spirit 
and  love. 

The  day  after  the  "mine  fiasco  "  the  dead  were 
still  unburied  and  the  wounded  uncared  for  be- 
tween the  hostile  lines.  During  all  the  night  we 
had  heard  the  wounded  moaning  piteously  for  help, 
and  calling  for  water. 

A  flag  of  truce  at  an  early  hour  had  been  sent 
out  to  gain  consent  of  the  enemy  to  the  burial 
of  the  dead,  and  to  caring  for  our  wounded.  It 
only  succeeded  so  far  as  to  allow  us  to  give  the 
wounded  water,  for  which  we  could  still  hear 
them  piteously  calling.  A  few  of  them  had,  how- 
ever, been  stealthily  removed  during  the  darkness 
of  the  night. 

August  1st  my  regiment  went  into  the  trenches 


374  JACK  ALDEN. 

once  more.  At  dawn  General  Burnside  sent  in 
another  flag  of  truce,  which  was  met  by  one  from 
the  Confederates. 

The  truce  being  arranged,  officers  and  men  met 
midway  between  the  intrenchments.  I  was  one  of 
the  officers  from  our  side  to  meet  the  Confederates 
who  had  come  forward  for  the  purpose  proposed. 
From  the  unburied  dead  there  came  a  terrible 
effluvium. 

Our  men  dug  two  trenches  side  by  side,  for 
their  burial.  The  negro  prisoneis,  captured  by 
the  Confederates  in  the  recent  fight,  then  brought 
our  dead  on  stretchers  to  the  trenches. 

The  blacks  were  buried  in  one  trench,  the 
whites  in  the  other.  The  colored  stretcher-bear- 
ers looked,  meanwhile,  with  pathetic  wishfulness 
over  the  narrow  line  which  separated  them  from 
friends  and  freedom. 

While  this  was  taking  place,  our  officers  en- 
tered into  friendly  though  constrained  conversa- 
tion with  the  Confederates. 

Among  the  striking  features  in  the  group  was 
General  A,  P.  Hill,  dressed  in  the  uniform  of 
a  Confederate  major-general. 

He  was  full  six  feet  in  height,  black-bearded, 
and  with  strongly  marked  features,  presenting  a 
striking  contrast  to  the  quiet  manner  and  slight 
and  graceful  figure  of  General  Dick  Taylor,  and 
the  thick-set,  stolid,  but  dignified  person  of  Gen- 
eral Bushrod  Johnson. 


THE  ASSAULT  AND   TRUCE.  375 

Among  this  group  of  Confederates,  a  tall  officer 
in  the  uniform  of  an  artillerist  arrested  my  atten- 
tion. I  could  scarcely  believe  at  first  that  he  was, 
as  it  proved,  Captain  James  Milner. 

We  greeted  each  other  like  old  friends,  rather 
than  enemies. 

"I  suppose,"  I  said,  "you've  had  great  re- 
joicing on  your  side  over  our  failure  in  this 
afeair." 

"No,"  he  very  gravely  replied;  "we  fight  for 
our  homes,  and  defend  ourselves,  but  it  is  no 
pleasure  for  us  to  kill  men  of  our  own  race." 

Captain  Milner  introduced  me  to  the  Confed- 
erate officers,  with  very  complimentary  remarks 
on  the  services  I  had  rendered  him  while  wounded 
and  a  prisoner  in  our  lines,  and  a  very  pleasant 
conversation  took  place. 

I  gave  Milner  intelligence  of  his  friends,  and 
I  do  not  think  he  was  much  more  pleased  than  I 
was  when  he  heard  of  Miss  May's  visit  to  the 
Raymonds. 

We  pointed  out  to  each  other  as  near  as  possible 
our  quarters  within  our  respective  lines ;  and  Cap- 
tain Milner  said  earnestly,  "I  shall  never  need- 
lessly fhe  a  shot  in  yowv  direction." 

While  this  exchange  of  civilities  was  taking 
place,  the  men  of  both  armies  stood  on  their  re- 
spective breastworks,  as  lookers  on,  two  hundred 
yards  apart. 

On  the  right  of  our  group  of  officers,  meanwhile, 


376  JACK  ALDEN. 

were  gathered  a  hundred  or  more  privates  of  both 
armies,  joking  and  trading,  without  the  reserve 
manifested  by  their  superiors.  Their  manner  soon 
became  very  friendly.  "Just  as  if,"  as  Captain 
Milner  said,  "  they  hadn't  made  it  a  business  shoot- 
ing at  each  other  for  weeks." 

"What  did  you  think,"  I  heard  one  of  our  men 
ask,  "when  that  there  fort  went  up,  Johnnies?" 

"Why,  Yank,"  said  the  Confederate,  "we  did 
just  reckon  the  Confederacy  war  goin'  with  it." 
"  You  'uns  are  right  smart  for  diggin',  Yanks,"  said 
another;  "but  we  uns  can  lick  you  uns  right  smart, 
I  reckon." 

Both  sides  expressed  a  desire  to  see  the  war 
close. 

"The  men  seem  very  friendly,"  I  said  to  Cap- 
tain Milner. 

"It  is  not  probable,"  said  an  oiScer  near  us, 
with  a  grave  smile,  "that  a  similar  number  of 
non-combatants  on  either  side  could  meet  each 
other  on  as  pleasant  terms.  This  war  has  taught 
us  to  respect  each  other,   if  nothing  else." 

The  pleasant  exchange  of  courtesies  and  jokes, 
tobacco  and  hard-tack,  among  the  rank  and  file 
was  soon  stopped  by  the  officers  on  both  sides. 

"They  are  getting  too  friendly  for  practical 
fighting,"  I  heard  one  of  the  Confederate  general 
officers  say. 

"Yes,"  said  one  of  our  officers;  "important  in- 
formatiou  may  be  divulged  by  them  unawares," 


7'HE  ASSAULT  AND   TRUCE.  377 

When  I  parted  from  Captain  Milner,  it  was 
with  many  expressions  of  good  will,  and  with  the 
wish  for  a  more  pleasant  meeting  "when  the  cruel 
war  was  over."  I  little  thought  how  soon  such  a 
meeting  would  be  possible! 

After  the  truce,  a  sentiment  of  disgust  over  the 
needless  butchery,  and  of  fighting  in  general,  was 
expressed  by  men  of  all  ranks  on  our  side. 

"When  I  am  killed,"  said  Lieutenant  Crandall, 
"I  want  to  count,  and  not  have  my  life  thrown 
away  by  that  kind  of  blundering.  I  don't  want 
to  be  led  by  an  officer  in  a  bomb-proof,  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  in  the  rear,  either." 

Up  to  this  time,  firing  had  been,  as  I  have 
said  elsewhere,  fierce  and  constant  on  this  line; 
but  for  a  week  following,  scarcely  a  shot  was 
exchanged  between  the  contestants. 

During  one  of  these  days  a  Confederate  soldier 
had  jumped  upon  the  parapet  opposite,  and,  swing- 
ing his  hat,  exclaimed,  "I  say,  Yanks!  doggone 
it!  let's  go  home! " 

It  was  as  if  the  meeting  of  the  contestants  had 
vividly  brought  to  both  sides  a  renewal  of  the 
feelings  of  kindred. 

Hostilities  were  never  waged  with  such  contin- 
uous fierceness  thereafter. 

The  two  months  that  followed  were,  however, 
wearing  in  the  nerve-strain  and  friction  that  such 
duty  produces. 

I  saw  Lieutenant-Colonel  Key  occasionally,  until 


378  JACK  ALDEN. 

in  November  he  formed  a  part  of  Ord's  movable 
column. 

In  one  of  the  conversations  with  me  he  said, 
"Our  old  friend  Grim  seems  strangely  changed. 
In  some  way  he  don't  seem  the  same  man." 

This  was  true;  for  though  he  neglected  no 
duty,  he  was  gloomy,  unsociable,  and  strange. 


THE  LAST  CAMPAIGN  OPENS.  379 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 

THE   LAST   CAMPAIGN    OPENS. 

Spring  had  come,  with  its  promise  of  leaves 
and  flowers,  singing  birds,  and  the  fragrant  sweet- 
ness of  beautiful  Virginia. 

The  two  armies  still  confronted  each  other  in 
their  formidable  intrenchments,  extending  for 
miles  to  the  left. 

Add  had  come  over  to  my  quarters  from  Ord's 
command,   then  near  Petersburg. 

There  were  present  Colonel  Grim  and  Lieuten- 
ant Crandall,  besides  Add  and  myself,  sitting  at 
a  pine  table.  There  were  two  rude  bunks  on  the 
sides  of  the  hut,  which  was  built  of  logs,  chinked 
with  mud,  and  surmounted  by  a  tent  for  a  roof. 
In  the  wide  fireplace,  built  of  sticks  and  mud, 
there  blazed  a  cheerful,  crackling  fire ;  for  the 
evenings  were  still  chilly. 

Crandall  was  smoking  his  pipe  in  a  semi- 
reflective  and  contented  attitude.  We  had  been 
talking  about  the  opening  campaign  and  its  pos- 
sibilities. 

"The  spring  campaign,"  I  ventured  to  say, 
"will  finish   the  war." 


380  JACK  ALDEN. 

"Can't  remember  one  that  wasn't  goin'  to!" 
ejaculated  Crandall.  "  I  guess  this  war  will  last 
forever." 

"Rather  think  'twill  hold  on  a  spell  longer," 
said  Add;  "and  that  puts  me  in  mind  of  Silas 
Eaton  when  he  got  the  Millerite  bee  in  his 
bonnet.  You  know  some  of  them  fellows  prophe- 
sied that  the  world  was  coming  to  an  end ;  and  they 
went  so  far  as  to  set  the  day  for  it,  same  as  you 
would  for  a  big  boil  to  come  to  a  head,  and  was 
just  ready  to  break,  —  like  that  mine  explosion." 

"Yes,"  ejaculated  Crandall;  "I  remember  that 
dummed  foolishness." 

"Silas  was  digging  potatoes,"  laughingly  con- 
tinued Add,  "and  I  stopped  by  the  fence,  and 
said  anxiously,  for  I  was  a  little  scared  about  it, 
'  Mr.  Eaton,  do  you  think  the  world  is  coming  to 
an  end  soon  ?  '  After  looking  at  the  sky,  as  if  it 
was  a  question  of  the  weather,  Silas  rested  his 
chin  on  his  hoe-handle,  and  said  in  his  most 
sepulchral  tones,  '  Well,  it  may  hold  on  till 
spring.'  " 

"You  don't  think,  then,"  I  interrogated,  "that 
the  war  will  hold  on  much  longer  than  spring?" 
.  "Don't  look  so,"  Add  responded.  "I  know 
something  about  the  Confederate  army.  No 
braver  and  more  determined  men  ever  fought. 
I've  sometimes  felt  so  much  admiration  for  them, 
that  I  couldn't  see  their  wickedness.  But  I  be- 
lieve the  old  Confed  is  on  its  last  legs  now." 


THE  LAST  CAMPAIGN  OPENS.  381 

"Yes,"  said  Colonel  Grim,  rousing  himself 
from  a  gloomy  mood,  and  speaking  with  his  old 
clearness;  "it  does  kinder  look  like  it;  for  Sher- 
man has  cut  the  Confederacy  in  two,  and  Charles- 
ton and  Savannah  have  fallen,  and  Sherman  is 
now,  so  we  hear,  not  over  a  hundred  and  seventy 
miles  from  us.  Sheridan  has  cleaned  out  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  and  is  about  coming  here  to 
take  a  command;  and  Hood's  army  has  been 
scattered  by  Thomas." 

"  That,"  said  Crandall  reflectively,  "  does  have 
a  bad  look  for  the  Johnnies;  and  we  know  that 
Lee's  army  is  short  of  rations,  even  for  them, 
and  that  the  people  are  sick  of  the  war,  and  that 
their  men  are  deserting  all  along  these  lines. 
Grant,  I  am  told,  is  afraid  they'll  get  away  be- 
fore he  is  aware  of  it  ;  they  always  could  out- 
march us." 

Such  was  indeed  the  situation;  but  the  brave 
men  of  the  "Army  of  Northern  Virginia,"  which 
had  so  long  confronted  us,  and  had  fought  us  on 
so  many  battle-fields,  were  yet  capable  of  great 
deeds. 

On  the  24th  of  March,  we  were  on  picket-duty 
at  the  front.  A  part  of  our  instructions  were  that 
we  were  not  to  fire  on  any  Confederate  deserters 
coming  into  our  lines  with  their  arms.  These 
instructions  were  issued  for  the  purpose  of  encour- 
aging deserters  to  bring  their  rifles  and  equij)- 
ments  with  them. 


382  JACK  ALDEN. 

Before  dark,  two  deserters  had  come  in  on  my 
part  of  the  line,  saying  that  a  lot  of  men  were 
coming  over  as  soon  as  it  was  dark  enough. 

"  A  right  smart  more  of  our  men  are  comin' 
in,"  said  one.  "  We  don't  have  a  heap  of  work 
drawing  rations  over  yer  now. ' ' 

I  sent  these  men,  after  disarming  them,  to  the 
rear  under  guard. 

No  more  deserters  came  in  during  the  night; 
but  about  three  or  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  I 
heard  Sergeant  Osgood  say,  "  Here  comes  their 
whole  picket-line,   I  guess." 

I  saw,  indeed,  by  the  dim  early  morning  light, 
from  my  place  in  the  rear  of  the  company,  from 
twenty  to  thirty  Confederates  leisurely  coming  to 
our  lines,  bringing  their  muskets  at  a  trail,  and 
still  more  following. 

I  was  about  hurrying  to  the  scene  to  take  their 
guns  and  send  them  to  the  rear,  when  a  struggle 
toqk  place.  Arms  were  wrested  from  our  men, 
and  a  tall  Confederate  made  a  rush  at  me.  I 
struck  him  with  my  sword,  and  he  fell.  I  felt 
my  arm  grasped,  and  found  Lieutenant  Crandall 
urging  me  to  the  right,  saying,  "  It's  time  to 
run.   Jack,   not  to  fight." 

All  around  us  we  heard,  as  we  crept  away, 
confused  sounds  of  a  fight. 

On  the  left,  through  the  gap  made  by  the 
capture  of  our  line  of  pickets,  the  Confederates 
were  pouring  like  water  through  a  broken  dyke. 


THE  LAST  CAMPAIGN'  OPEN'S.  383 

We  got  into  a  ditch,  and  crept  along  on  all  fours 
until  we  saw  a  strong  earthwork  looming  up 
before  us,  and  knew  we  were  under  the  mud  walls 
of  Fort  Stedman.  Even  as  we  lingered  and  list- 
ened, curses,  shouts,  and  shots  were  heard  in  the 
fort;  then  silence,  as  if  the  conflict  was  over. 

"Hush!"  I  whispered;   "what  is  it?" 

"  The  rebs  have  been  trying  to  take  the  fort," 
whispered  my  lieutenant,  "  but  I  guess  they  are 
gobbled." 

In  a  moment  more  we  were  in  the  fort,  only  to 
find  ourselves  prisoners  of  war,  and  that  the  Con- 
federates were  just  manning  the  captured  guns 
and  turning  them  on  the  neighboring  intrench- 
ments. 

A  big  Confederate,  seeing  my  high-topped  boots, 
made  me  remove  them,  went  through  my  pockets, 
and  expressed  disgust  at  not  finding  more  money. 

The  gray  of  morning  had  now  brightened  into 
full  day,  and  the  sun  was  up,  when  a  terrible 
converging  fire  was  directed  upon  the  fort  from 
our  batteries. 

Crash  followed  crash;  and  then,  for  I  was  un- 
der guard,  I  heard  the  Confederates  exclaiming, 
"  Here  they  come  !  The  Yanks  are  charging 
us!" 

The  hissing  of  shot  hummed  and  blended  into 
one  roar  like  the  sound  of  machinery  in  motion, 
and  then  a  great  yelling  and  cheering  as  our 
men  came  on  over  the  works  and  took  possession. 


384  JACK  ALDEN. 

I  recovered  from  the  reb  who  had  made  me 
come  out  of  my  boots,  my  money,  my  boots, 
besides  some  other  things  not  my  own. 

Among  the  things  was  a  cigar-case  and  a  pocket- 
book  which  I  recognized  as  Colonel  Grim's. 

"How  did  you  come  by  these  ?"  I  inquired  of 
the  bearded  Confederate  from  whom  I  had  made 
reprisals. 

"From  a  Yank  outside  of  yer,"  he  replied;  "he 
was  wounded." 

I  was  all  excitement.  Crandall  joined  me  in 
the  search;  and  we  finally  found  the  dear  old 
fellow  with  three  dead  Confederates  near  him, 
one  of  them  apparently  killed  by  a  sword  wound. 

The  colonel  was  not  dead,  but  fatally  wounded. 
Before  he  died,  he  rallied  for  a  time  as  we  gath- 
ered around  him,  recognized  me,  and  his  face 
had  on  it  a  brighter  expression  than  for  many 
days,  as  he  said,  while  pressing  my  hand,  "Tell 
Mary  I  understand  now;  things  look  clear,  the 
clouds  are  all  gone." 

These  were  his  last  words.  The  brave  and 
simple  soldier  and  friend  had  passed  away  into 
unclouded  daylight. 

Tears  from  many  a  rough  soldier  who  had 
known  brave  Colonel  Grim  fell  on  the  coffin, 
before  Lieutenant  Crandall,  with  a  guard  of  honor, 
took  the  body  to  his  old  home. 


THE  RACE  FOR  LIFE.  385 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE   RACE   FOR    LIEE. 

Only  fiftj'-eight  men  of  my  regiment  had  es- 
caped capture,  wounds,  or  death  on  the  line  before 
Fort  Steadman.  The  remnants  of  its  companies 
were  therefore  ordered  to  be  consolidated  with 
older  organizations,  and  I  would  soon  in  all 
probability  be  once  more  without  a  command. 

I  was  down-hearted  and  gloomy  over  these  pros- 
pects; for  I  had  hoped  to  win  promotion,  when 
General  Blusterson  offered  his  influence,  and  had 
me  transferred  to  his  command  as  a  member  of 
his  staff. 

"One  of  my  staff,  a  first-rate  man  too,  went 
home  during  the  holidays  and  got  married,"  said 
the  general.  "He  hasn't  been  good  for  anything 
since.  The  fact  is,  a  married  man  has  no  busi- 
ness in  the  army,  unless  he  has  been  married  so 
long  that  he'd  just  as  lief  be  killed  as  not." 

"Do  you  think,"  I  said,  after  laughing  over  the 
general's  joke,  "  that  Grant  will  open  the  spring 
campaign  soon  ?  " 

"Bless  you,"  said  the  general,  wagging  his 
head,  "it  u  opened  already.     Grant's  got  'em  in 


386  JACK  ALDEN. 

a  vice.  They  tried  to  wrench  away  from  it  at 
Fort  Steadman,  but  failed;  and  now  the  orders 
are  given  for  a  final  twist  that  will  finish  'em." 

"Yes,"  I  replied,  "but  we've  been  saying  some- 
thing like  that  ever  since  the  war  began.  But 
my  chances  for  promotion  seem  poor,  whether  it 
is  true   or  not." 

"Tut,  tut,"  said  the  general  reproachfully, 
"I'll  see  to  that." 

I  went  on  duty  as  a  member  of  the  general's 
staff  on  the  27  th  of  March,  and  on  the  same  day 
orders  were  issued  to  be  in  readiness  for  a  move- 
ment on  the   29th. 

"This  looks  like  a  general  move,"  I  ventured 
to  say. 

"Yes,"  said  the  general;  "I  understand  that  it 
is  a  flank  move  to  the  left  with  the  whole  army, 
except  your  old  corps,  which  is  the  pivot  of  the 
movement." 

Each  day  saw  evidences  of  the  gigantic  struggle 
about  to  begin.  On  the  29th  the  division,  which 
was  then  near  Hatcher's  Run,  broke  camp  and 
moved  towards  Dinwiddle  Court  House. 

The  country  was  densely  wooded,  broken  here 
and  there  by  clearings,  traversed  by  ridges  and 
ravines  through  which  rushed  deep  and  narrow 
streams. 

It  shows  the  difficulties  of  the  campaign,  that 
soon  after  beginning  our  march  I  was  directed  to 
convey  orders  to  the  officers   of  a  flanking-party 


THE  RACE  FOR   LIFE.  387 

that  had  penetrated  the  thick  woods,  and  was 
obliged  to  dismonnt  in  order  to  make  my  way 
through  the  wikl  vines  and  thorn  bushes,  and 
even  then  had  my  ck)thes  and  my  flesh  torn. 

On  the  Boydtown  plank-road  there  was  heavy 
fighting,  in  which  the  enemy  had  been  pushed 
back  after  heavy  loss. 

At  ten  o'clock  that  night  we  made  our  head- 
quarters in  an  abandoned  farmhouse,  the  barn 
and  out-buildings  of  which  were  being  torn  down 
and  piled  up  as  the  foundation  for  a  heavy  line  of 
defence.  Dark  masses  of  clouds  overcast  the  sky 
and  rendered  the  darkness  intense,  relieved,  how- 
ever, by  the  crackling  camp-fires. 

Before  daylight  I  was  awakened  and  went  out 
to  convey  orders.  The  rain  was  falling  in  tor- 
rents. It  was  wet,  cold,  and  cheerless;  but  long 
lines  of  our  soldiers,  rolled  in  their  blankets, 
though  drenched  with  rain,  were  sleeping  the 
sleep  of  tired  men.  Through  the  mists  of  the 
morning,  officers  of  the  pickets  discovered  an 
intrenched  line  of  the  enemy  not  a  hundred  feet 
from  us. 

I  went  back  and  reported  this  fact  to  General 
Blusterson. 

Roily,  who  was  now  master  cook  for  the  staff, 
was  cooking,  in  the  house  we  occupied,  breakfast 
of  bacon  and  chicken  before  a  blazing  fire  in  an 
open  fireplace.  The  other  members  of  the  staff 
were  asleep  in  their  blankets,  and  the  general  was 
just  adjusting  his  artificial  leg, 


388  JACK  ALDEN. 

I  reported;  and  several  other  reports  having 
come  in,  the  general  said,  "  Plenty  of  time ;  their 
works  are  light,  probably  their  advance ; "  and 
then  stumping  to  the  door  and  looking  out  on 
the  drenched  and  muddy  ground,  for  it  was  now 
full  daylight,  he  added,  — 

"The  best  either  Johnny  Reb  or  we  can  do, 
just  now,  is  to  sit  down  in  the  mud  and  look  at 
each  other  for  aAvhile. 

There  was  no  fighting  until  later  in  the  day. 
At  three  o'clock  that  afternoon  I  rode  forward 
with  orders  to  the  different  colonels,  preparatory 
to  driving  the  enemy  out  of  their  works  on  our 
front. 

Fighting  began  at  four  o'clock.  Our  men 
went  forward  with  a  shout  that  rivalled  the  Con- 
federate yell,  and  captured  their  works. 

The  Confederates  fell  back,  evidently  to  a 
stronger  line  of  intrenchments  in  their  rear.  The 
rain  still  continued  to  fall  in  torrents. 

Another  advance  was  soon  ordered.  The  skir- 
mish-line was  formed  for  attack,  but  the  enemy 
opened  a  heavy  fire ;  and  it  was  so  evident  that 
they  would  give  us  a  hot  reception,  that  we  fell 
back  on  the  first  lines  we  had  captured,  and  then 
strengthened  them. 

Our  skirmishers  were  driven  in  about  dark,  and 
the  enemy  were  reported  to  be  moving  forward  a 
heavy  line  to  recapture  the  intrenchments  we  had 
wrested  from  them, 


THE  RACE  FOR   LIFE.  389 

The  general  was  seated  on  liis  horse  under  a 
severe  fire.  As  I  rode  up  to  report,  a  musket- 
shot  struck  his  new  saddle.  The  general,  with  a 
scowl,  looked  down  to  see  how  badly  his  property 
had  been  injured,  and  then  said,  "  My  compli- 
ments to  Captain  Black,  and  tell  him  to  place  his 
battery  on  the  right  of  the  line  and  to  keep  it 
dressed  with  the  brigade.  Give  them  canister 
at  short  range !  " 

With  the  mud  flying,  the  men  cheering,  the 
horses  galloping  like  mad,  the  battery  went  into 
place  on  the  battle-line,  and  poured  canister  and 
shell  into  the  yelling  column  of  the  advancing 
foe. 

The  soldiers  at  this  time  but  little  resembled 
the  holiday  men  of  a  dress  parade.  Privates 
and  officers  were  smeared  with  red  mud,  in  which 
many  of  them  had  been  lying,  their  faces  black- 
ened with  gunpowder  or  dirt,  their  uniforms  faded, 
torn,  and  drenched.  The  muskets  of  the  men  and 
the  side-arms  of  the  officers  alone  showed  care. 

We  remained  in  the  Confederate  works  during 
the  cold,  cheerless  night,  wrapped  in  our  wet 
blankets,  on  the  muddy  ground,  where  we  soon 
forgot  the  conflict  in  restful  sleep. 

In  the  morning  the  brigade  was  relieved  by 
other  regiments. 

The  general,  with  myself  and  two  others  of  his 
staff,  had  begun  to  eat  our  dinner  of  chicken, 
which  Roily  had  procured  the  day  before,  and  had 


390  JACK  ALDEN. 

now  prepared  with  great  care.  The  brigade  had 
stacked  its  arms  in  an  open  field.  The  men,  in 
groups,  were  eating,  boiling  their  coffee,  cooking, 
and  spreading  their  blankets  to  dry,  for  the  storm 
was  over,  and  the  sun  had  come  out  again. 

To  a  soldier  exercising  in  the  oppn  air  every- 
thing tastes  good.  The  general  was  in  good 
humor,  for  he  liked  good  eating ;  and  fighting  was 
likely  to  be  had  at  any  moment.  In  the  midst  of 
our  repast  we  were  almost  brought  to  our  feet  by 
an  awful  roar  of  battle  not  a  mile  away  on  our 
front.  The  remains  of  the  stew  —  grease,  gravy, 
and  all  —  were  hurried  into  our  tins  and  haver- 
sacks, while  sound  of  cannon,  musketry,  cheering, 
blended  in  one  terrible,  indescribable  roar  of 
battle,  swept  towards  us. 

We  mounted  our  horses.  The  general  gave 
quick  and  decisive  commands,  which  I,  with  other 
members  of  his  staff,  rode  forward  to  communicate 
to  the  different  regiments.  The  bugles  rang  out, 
"  Fall  in!  fall  in!  "  Ofiicers  shouted  commands, 
the  weary  men  caught  their  guns  from  the  stacks 
and  sprang  into  line,  and,  with  glistening  mus- 
kets, and  by  the  right  flank,  rushed  forward. 

Soon  we  encountered  groups  of  men,  galloping 
batteries,  drivers  furiously  lashing  theii"  horses  — 
the  broken  fragments  of  defeated  divisions  closely 
pursued  by  the  enemy. 

We  took  possession  of  a  ridge  where  we  could 
look  down  upon  a  ravine,  through  which  rushed  a 


THE  RACE  FOR  LIFE.  391 

swift,  dark  stream,  while  shot  from  the  enemy's 
artillery  smote  our  ranks. 

The  enemy's  lines  were  checked  at  the  stream, 
and  our  brigade  soon  occupied  the  position  from 
which  a  division  had  been  driven. 

Away  beyond,  on  our  left,  we  still  heard  the 
crash  of  cannon  and  the  roar  of  musketry.  It  was 
Sheridan  fighting  near  the  Southside  Railroad, 
being  driven  back  by  the  foe. 

During  the  night  we  found  ourselves  too  near 
the  enemy  for  comfort,  and  fell  back. 

The  morning  of  April  1st  dawned  clear  and 
cold.  The  whole  corps  had  meanwhile  come  up, 
preparatory  to  capturing  the  Southside  Railroad, 
the  last  line  of  road  by  which  Lee  received  sup- 
plies for  his  army,  and  by  which  he  communicated 
with  the  heart  of  the  South. 

If  we  could  wrest  this  line  from  them,  they 
must  abandon  Richmond  in  any  case,  no  matter 
what  other  plans  Lee  had  formed,  because  no  army 
can  exist  without  food  supplies. 

A  long  line  of  breastworks  had  been  built  par- 
allel to  this  road  for  its  defence. 

We  moved  towards  Five  Forks,  near  where 
Sheridan  had  fought  with  his  cavalry,  but  had 
been  driven  back,   the   day  before. 

We  silently  formed  in  a  wood  on  a  hill,  where 
we  could  see  the  enemy's  intrenchments  below 
us,  and  then,  with  a  dash,  were  upon  them  before 
they  could  fire  a  shot. 


392  JACK  ALDEN. 

So  complete  had  been  their  susprise  that  they 
had  no  time  to  resist,  and  surrendered  in  masses. 

The  number  of  prisoners  embarrassed  us,  and 
we  were  obliged  to  detail  a  large  number  of  our 
men  to  send  them  under  guard  to  the  rear. 

I  had  been  sent  to  our  officers  with  orders  to 
accomplish  this  with  as  little  delay  as  possible, 
when,  in  the  midst  of  its  execution,  a  terrible 
conflict  began.  The  Confederates  had  rallied 
again. 

The  fight  was  at  its  height  when  Sheridan's 
cavalry  came  to  our  rescue,  but  none  too  soon. 
We  then  pursued  the  fugitives,  and  gathered  up 
their  arms.     It  was  a  great  victory. 

The  sun  went  down  on  many  dead  and  wounded 
men;  but  the  Southside  Railroad,  the  life-line  of 
the  Confederacy,  was  in  our  hands. 

The  bugles  rang  out  the  recall;  our  shattered 
brigade  reached  the  battle-field,  and  again  en- 
camped for  the  night.  But  there  was  no  rest  for 
our  wearied  men.  Our  wounded  must  be  cared 
for,  and  our  dead  buried. 

Late  at  night  I  found  my  general  sitting  by  a 
blazing  camp-fire,  tinkering  at  his  artificial  leg. 
He  said,  with  a  scowl,  "  that  a  bullet  had  seriously 
stirred  up  its  internal  economy.  The  scoun- 
drels! "  said  the  general  crossly,  "I'm  all  worn 
out  with  them."     So  was  I. 

General  Blusterson  had  been  caught  in  the  very 
maelstrom  of  the  fight  I've  mentioned  as  having 


THE  RACE  FOR  LIFE.  393 

been  resumed  by  the  enemy,  and  had  escaped  from 
the  "row,"  as  he  called  it,  "by  the  skin  of  his 
teeth." 

"  I  don't  see  that  you  escaped,  my  dear  General, ' ' 
I  ventured  to  say.  "You'd  have  thought  so,"  he 
answered,  "  if  you'd  seen  two  of  the  scoundrels 
shoot  at  me,  and  then  try  to  pull  me  off  my 
horse." 

On  the  2d  of  April  we  learned  that  Richmond 
and  Petersburg  were  evacuated,  and  that  Lee  was 
in  full  retreat.  We  were  ordered  to  press  forward 
again  to  support  Sheridan  in  his  attempt  to  head 
off  the  retreating  Confederates. 

From  that  time  to  the  9th  of  April  we  were  in 
the  saddle  night  and  day,  and  the  brave  men  of 
the  brigade  were  marching  with  but  little  rest  or 
food. 

Meanwhile,  on  every  side  were  indications  that 
Lee's  army  was  going  to  pieces.  Prisoners  poured 
in  by  thousands ;  Confederate  flags  were  numerous ; 
while  Confederate  mortars,  cannon,  and  baggage- 
wagons,  abandoned  by  them  or  captured,  lined  the 
roads  along  which  they  were  retreating. 

As  they  fell  back,  they  turned  again  and  again 
in  furious  sallies,  showing  even  in  defeat  and  re- 
treat, while  harassed  by  outnumbering  foes,  that 
they  were  worthy  to  be  named  as  soldiers  of  the 
"Army  of  Northern  Virginia." 

The  Confederates  were  making  their  last  cam- 
paign.    Who  can  repress  a  thrill  of  admiration 


394  JACK  ALDEN. 

for  the  brave  veterans  of  Lee's  army  in  this,  their 
last  struggle?  Bleeding  with  wounds,  worn  by 
marches,  hungry  and  hopeless,  they  were  yet  daunt- 
less in  the  face  of  famine  and  despair.  One  must 
have  lacked  the  feelings  of  a  soldier  and  a  man, 
who  did  not  feel  admiration  and  pity  for  these 
brave  men  in  that  last  great  struggle. 

The  roads  over  which  our  wearied  columns 
marched  were  poor;  but  the  foraging,  if  they  got 
time  to  forage,  was  good. 

With  a  short  rest  at  sundown,  we  were  again 
urged  forward,  and,  with  short  intervals  of  rest, 
marched  all  night. 

I  was  ready  to  drop  out  of  the  saddle ;  General 
Blusterson  nodded  and  reeled,  he  Avas  so  tired. 
We  had  reached  the  division,  and  had  dismounted, 
when  an  officer  rode  up  with  orders  for  our  bri- 
gade to  hurry  forward. 

On  the  8th  of  April  the  brigade  marched  thirty 
miles,  and  that,  too,  over  poor  roads. 

Once  during  the  day  Sheridan,  with  his  staff 
and  several  scouts  dressed  as  Confederate  officers, 
passed  us.  They  carried  numerous  captured  bat- 
tle-flags of  the  enemy.  General  Blusterson  and 
staff  rode  forward  and  saluted  Sheridan.  I  saw 
Sheridan  with  gleaming  eyes,  excitedly  emphasiz- 
ing every  word  of  command  as  he  spoke  a  few 
sharp,  decisive  words  to  General  Blusterson,  and 
then  with  a  peremptory  order  to  his  staff  rode 
away. 


"  General  Blusterson  and  staff  rode  forward  and  saluted  Sheridan. 
—  Page  394. 


THE  RACE  FOR  LIFE.  395 

"He  is  a  liurricane  in  cavalry  boots,"  said  the 
general." 

Night  came,  and  yet  the  whole  division  was 
again  urged  forward.  "Sheridan  has  headed  off 
Lee's  army,"  said  the  general;  "and  if  we  hurry 
up  they  must  surrender.  Pass  the  word  down  the 
line!  " 

With  a  cheer  the  devoted  men,  who,  with  scanty 
rations  had  been  marching  almost  continuously 
for  forty-eight  hours,  once  more  pressed  forward, 
staggering  with  fatigue  and  hunger,  as  they 
marched.  They  marched  all  night  with  another 
short  interval  of  rest,  disputing  the  right  of  way 
with  cavalry  and  artillery. 

The  sun  came  up,  and  shone  in  a  cloudless  sky; 
it  was  the  sun  of  Appomattox. 

We  could  hear  firing  on  our  front  now  and 
then.  Our  column  was  soon  halted  in  a  field,  and 
their  arms  were  stacked  as  if  for  a  rest. 

The  men  broke  ranks,  and  pulled  down  fences 
for  fires.  I  had  dismounted,  and  the  general  sat 
on  his  horse,  nodding,  when  heavy  firing  was 
once  more  heard. 

An  orderly  rode  up;  a  staff-officer  from  Sheri- 
dan followed;  a  few  hurried  words;  the  bugle 
once  more  sounded,  "Fall  in!"  A  sharp  com- 
mand, "Forward!     Double-quick,  march!  " 

Reaching  a  piece  of  wood,  we  met  cavalrymen 
singly  and  in  groups,  excitedly  shouting  and  ges- 
ticulating: to  us. 


396  JACK  ALDEN. 

The  wearied  men,  who  had  been  promised  ra- 
tions at  that  time,  caught  a  glimpse  of  Sheridan 
and  staff,  and  with  a  half  groan  and  laugh, 
shouted  in  chorus,  "Here's  that  darned  little 
Irishman,  Pat  Sheridan!  Plenty  of  fighting 
where  he  is,   but  no  rations !  " 

On  reaching  an  elevation  near  at  hand,  I  could 
see  with  my  glass  the  yellow  earthworks  of  the 
enemy  on  the  opposite  hillside,  and  their  artillery 
back  of  them,  with  their  skirmish-line  in  little 
rifle-pits  at  the  foot  of  the  hill. 

A  few  orders;  officers  galloping  down  the  line; 
the  charge  was  ordered,  and  the  men  were  advan- 
cing to  attack,  when  a  white  flag  among  the  artil- 
lery of  the  enemy's  intrenchments  appeared. 

"What's  that?"  said  the  general  excitedly,  as 
it  came  down  the  hill  towards  our  line ;  "  a  flag  of 
truce?" 

We  rode  forward,  when  an  officer,  swinging  his 
hat  like  a  madman,  riding  forward  exclaimed, 
"Halt!  halt  your  men!       Lee  has  surrendered!  " 


THE  END.  397 


CHAPTER   XXXVII. 


THE    END. 


We  lay  for  three  days  on  the  hillside,  encamped 
and  fraternizing  with  our  former  enemies,  foes  no 
longer,  but  fellow-countrymen.  We  shared  with 
them  our  rations,  and,  though  rejoicing  that  peace 
and  the  Union  were  restored,  did  not  exult  over 
them. 

General  Chamberlain's  brigade  received  the 
formal  surrender  of  the  Confederate  arms  on  the 
12th  of  April,  1865. 

I  inquired  for  Captain  James  Milner;  but 
though  I  met  several  of  his  acquaintances  among 
the  Confederate  officers,  and  learned  that  his  bat- 
tery was  one  of  those  that  surrendered  here,  I  did 
not  meet  him  until  later. 

The  morning  of  April  12,  1865,  was  balmy  and 
bright.  The  last  act  in  the  drama  of  surrender 
was  about  to  take  place. 

"  Here  they  come !  "  "  Here  they  come !  "  was  the 
exclamation,  as  down  the  little  valley  we  saw  a 
line  of  men  in  gray  advancing.  They  arrived  op- 
posite, and  halted  a  few  yards  from  the  blue  line 
with  burnished  steel. 


398  JACK  ALDEN. 

The  order  rang  out  to  salute  the  last  of  the 
brave  army  of  Northern  Virginia  —  "  Present, 
arms!  " 

The  gray  line  returned  the  salute,  then  stacked 
arms,  laid  on  them  their  equipments  and  tattered 
battle-flags,  and  sadly  broke  ranks,  never  again  to 
follow  the  flag  they  had  surrendered. 

They  were  thin,  wearied,  earnest-looking  men; 
and  some  of  them  cut  away  pieces  of  the  weather 
and  battle-stained  flags  which  they  had  followed, 
oh,  how  faithfully !  through  so  many  battles  and 
vicissitudes. 

We  respected  these  manifestations  of  sentiment, 
and  did  not  hinder  them.  But  one  of  these,  an 
officer,  went  farther  than  this.  I  saw  him  bowed 
over  a  small  battery  guidon ;  and  when  he  turned, 
the  flag  had  disappeared,  leaving  only  its  staff. 

I  sprang  towards  him,  he  confronted  me :  it  was 
my  friend  and  former  enemy,  James  Milner. 

I  extended  my  hand,  and  said,  "The  war  is 
over;  let  us  be  friends.  Come  with  me."  He  was 
my  guest  for  a  while,  and  was  entertained  like  a 
brother. 

That  same  day  our  brigade  began  its  march 
towards  home. 

"I  have  forebodings  about  my  wife,"  said  Cap- 
tain Milner;  "for  I've  heard  our  men  say  that  the 
order  was  to  set  fire  to  the  city  when  they  aban- 
doned it." 

Captain  Milner,  by  the  terms  of  surrender,  was 


THE  END.  399 

permitted  to  retain  his  horse,  and  by  my  invitation 
and  that  of  General  Blusterson  was  an  honored 
guest.  He  accompanied  us  until  just  before  we 
reached  Farmville,  when  becoming  impatient  to 
see  his  family,  with  many  friendly  expressions  he 
rode  hurriedly  away. 

In  the  afternoon  we  crossed  the  Appomattox 
and  rode  into  Farmville,  and  there  learned  that 
our  beloved  President  Lincoln  had  been  assassi- 
nated. The  feelings  against  the  Confederates  was, 
for  a  time,  so  very  bitter  that  I  was  glad  Captain 
Milner  had  left  us  before  we  heard  the  news. 

On  the  9th  day  of  May  we  reached  Richmond. 
We  found  the  lower  portion  of  it  almost  in  ruins 
from  a  fire.  Its  huge  piles  of  brick,  and  crumbling 
granite,  charred  wood,  and  blackened  chimney- 
stacks,  stood  as  monuments  of  the  cruel  spirit  of 
the  Confederate  War  Department,  that  had  or- 
dered the  city,  which  its  soldiers  had  so  bravely 
defended,   to  be  fired. 

As  we  rode  through  the  town,  the  people  gave 
us  a  cordial  greeting.  The  sidewalks  were 
crowded  with  people,  both  black  and  white,  who 
cheered  us.  The  day  was  very  hot,  and  at  the 
northern  part  of  the  city  we  had  ordered  a  halt. 

The  ladies  came  out  in  large  numbers,  filling 
the  canteens  of  our  soldiers  with  cool  water.  On 
the  left  of  us  was  a  large  mansion  where  two 
beautiful  ladies  had  filled  the  canteens  of  General 
Blusterson  and  members  of  his  staif.     I  reached 


400  JACK  ALDEN. 

down  to  take  my  canteen  from  the  hand  of  one  of 
these,  when  in  the  upturned  face  before  me  I 
recognized  the  lady  I  had  seen  at  my  hiding-place 
after  escaping  from  the  Libby  tunnel.  Yet  an- 
other surprise  was  in  store  for  me. 

A  young  fellow,  in  the  uniform  of  a  Confeder- 
ate officer,  rushed  down  the  steps,  and  in  a  mo- 
ment I  was  shaking  hands  with  my  friend  James 
Milner.  He  introduced  us  to  his  wife  and  her 
sister,  Miss  Gertrude  Austin,  and  invited  us  to 
make  his  house  our  home  while  in  Richmond. 

The  ladies  excused  themselves  for  waiting  on 
us,  and  for  the  character  of  the  food,  as  they  said 
their  servants  had  left  them,  and  they  had  no  food 
except  United  States'  rations. 

For  the  reasons  given  above  I  did  not  again  see 
Sam  Brent,  who  had  concealed  me  in  that  very 
house,  after  my  escape  from  Libby  Prison  almost 
a  year  before. 

Marching  by  way  of  Fredericksburg,  we  reached 
Washington  in  season  to  take  a  part  in  the  final 
"  Great  Review"  of  all  the  armies  of  the  Union. 

There,  as  our  corps  ended  its  march,  I  was  ac- 
costed by  Dr.  Milner  and  his  daughter,  Mrs.  May 
Milner  Raymond.  I  was,  however,  oi'dered  North 
before  I  had  a  chance  to  visit  them. 

I  was  soon  mustered  out  of  the  United  States 
service,  by  general  order  of  the  War  Department, 
and  arrived  home  June  9,  with  Colonel  Addison 
Key  and  other  army  friends. 


THE  END.  401 

We  were  received  by  the  enthusiastic  citizens 
of  Centerboro,  the  fire  company,  the  brass  band, 
the  ringing  of  church  bells,  and  the  firing  of  an 
old  rusty  cannon  in  charge  of  the  war-like  Silas 
Eaton. 

I  learned  that  my  uncle  had  died  since  I  last 
heard  from  home.  With  what  seemed  to  me  sin- 
gular inconsistency,  he  had  left  by  will  all  his  es- 
tate to  me,  reserving  for  his  wife  a  life  interest. 

There  remains  but  little  to  be  written. 

Dr.  Milner  died  a  short  time  after  the  war, 
widely  known,  and  honored  as  an  ornament  to 
his  profession. 

Raymond  died  soon  after,  and  left  his  widow, 
it  was  said,   very  rich. 

Mrs.  May  Milner  Raymond  uses  her  wealth  as 
if  she  held  it  in  trust  for  the  poor  and  needy. 
Wherever  there  is  sickness  or  poverty  near  her, 
she  is  known  as  a  ministering  angel  of  mercy. 

The  sick,  poor,  and  distressed  bless  her  beauti- 
ful presence,  for  her  care  for  them  has  become 
her  highest  happiness. 

Crandall,  with  his  daughter,  Mary  Grim,  still 
lives  in  Spindleville ;  and  here  the  brave  Grim 
is  buried. 

General  Blusterson  retired  from  business  a  few 
years  after  the  war.  So  much  does  he  dwell  on 
his  recollections  of  his  army  experiences,  that 
my  son.  Jack  Alden,  Jr.,  has  confidentially  ex- 
pressed to  me  much  indignation  that  his  grand- 


402  JACK  ALDEN. 

father  had  so  little  help  in  putting  down  the 
Rebellion. 

As  I  write,  I  hear  Roily  talking  to  Master  Jack 
on  the  broad  stairway.  "  I  'clar'  ter  goodness, 
Massa  Jack,  de  Cap'n  an'  I  fought  endurin'  de 
wall.  I  procured  an'  cooked  de  chickens,  an' 
toted  de  stuff,  an  de  Cap'n  do  de  iitin'  right 
smart. ' ' 

Captain  James  Milner  visited  me  the  summer 
after  the  war  closed,  when  Colonel  Key,  who  had 
already  become  a  successful  business  man,  invited 
Miss  Gertrude  Austin  (Captain  Milner's  sister- 
in-law)  to  become  his  wife.  She  protested  that 
she  would  never  marry  a  Yankee;  but  Colonel 
Key,  as  persistent  in  that  as  in  everything  else, 
at  last  compelled  a  surrender. 

We  have  both  grown  old  since  the  days  I've 
here  recorded,  and,  as  Add  insists,  are  among  the 
"have  beens."  We  never  cease  to  render  thanks 
to  Him  who  brought  us  safely  through  so  many 
perils. 

With  whitening  locks,  like  flags  of  truce  to 
life's  conflicts,  we  now  await  the  roll-call  of  our 
great  Commander,  who  will  soon  write  under  our 
earthly  records, 

FINIS, 


I 

i 


RARE  BOOK 
COLLECTION 


THE  LIBRARY  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF 

NORTH  CAROLINA 

AT 

CHAPEL  HILL 

Wilmer 

503 

C.2 


